Darkness Always Turns To Light
by Miss Magic 101
Summary: Cherry is new to the WWE and in a bad relationship. She needs to meet someone who will help her and show her how beautiful she is. Will Shannon Moore do that? Will the couple fall in love? Or will Deuce ruin it all? ShannonxCherry RATING CHANGE
1. The New Girl

**A/N: This is my first story, so I hope I didn't steal anyone's ideas and I hope I don't offend anyone! I do not own any of the characters in the story Vince McMahon does. **

**Enjoy!**

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**~ CHAPTER ONE ~**

**THE NEW GIRL**

Cherry walked up to the threatening door which led directly to the WWE arena and would be the start of the rest of her life. Cherry had been released by another wrestling company about a month ago, and she had struggled to find work ever since. All the wrestling companies seemed hesitant to hire her because of her figure. Cherry knew she wasn't like the typical girl who competed in the wrestling business, because she wasn't stick-thin and she liked to eat what she wanted without even thinking about it. However, it was disheartening for Cherry when she continued to get the same comments off every single organisation she went to,

"Sorry, try losing some weight and then come back!"

The WWE was Cherry's last attempt at making a success of herself in the wrestling business; if this didn't work then she was done with wrestling forever. Cherry's boyfriend Deuce had pulled in a favour from one of the high-ranking officials in the WWE creative office and had got Cherry a job as a valet to him and his tag team partner Domino. Cherry was excited about her new job but there was no denying that she was also incredibly apprehensive. After all WWE was the biggest wrestling company in the whole world, everyone knew that, and the whole idea that she was wrestling for such a big company, intimidated Cherry slightly.

Another reason as to why Cherry was nervous and full of anticipation when it came to working for WWE was the fact that her boyfriend Deuce also worked for World Wrestling Entertainment, and what was more was the fact that Cherry would be close to him all the time because she was in the same storylines as him.

For any other girl, the idea of working with her boyfriend would be one of the best experiences she could ever have. However, for Cherry working with Deuce was a living nightmare. Deuce had a nasty temper and Cherry knew it, after all she had been on the wrong end of it on many occasions.

Deuce told Cherry off for everything. He told her off if she talked to another man, if she said something that he didn't like, or even if she simply looked at him in the wrong way. Cherry believed that Deuce was simply protecting her from the cruel world, because she had been brainwashed to believe that the world was out to get her and Deuce, her loving boyfriend, who would always protect her was the only one she could trust.

However, to any outsider the relationship was wrong, and Deuce was simply a manipulative boyfriend who was using his girlfriend for his own gains. Cherry meanwhile was just an innocent girl who had fallen in love with a guy who had made her feel special and would now do anything for him, even if she thought it was wrong.

Deuce had hurt Cherry so many times before, but as usual she would always forgive him, and convince herself that he loved her. This meant that Deuce exploited Cherry more than ever before.

Deuce could get away with anything around Cherry and he knew it, and exploited it too. Deuce had hit Cherry before, telling her that it was the right thing to do, because it would teach her about how cruel the real world was, and it was what normal couples did. Against her better judgement, and perhaps letting her naivety take over, Cherry had believed Deuce, and he had been able to get away with it again and again, each time the injuries slowly getting worse and worse with each hit. Every time Deuce hit Cherry she became more and more scared of him, but she let him get away with it because she believed that it was normal and that it was her fault that she got hit every single time.

However, sadly, Deuce hitting Cherry was not the worst thing that happened in their relationship. Deuce had been the first person that Cherry had fallen in love with. After all they were both only eighteen years old now and they had been dating for a year. Cherry had fallen for Deuce because he had been sweet to her, he had made her feel special, and he had made her feel like she actually mattered.

Their relationship in the beginning had been great. Deuce treated Cherry like a princess, always buying her presents and looking after her. Cherry found Deuce very overprotective, to the extent that if a guy looked at her in the wrong way then he would beat them up. However, whenever Cherry questioned him about it, Deuce would always talk her round, saying that everything he did was to protect her, and Cherry always believed him.

About two months into their relationship Deuce started to become more physical with Cherry. He had started hitting her, as well as demanding that she slept with him. Cherry didn't want to sleep with Deuce yet because she was a virgin and she didn't want to rush things. However, when she refused Deuce would get angrier and angrier, but Cherry would not give in. So one night when Cherry had refused again, Deuce had held her down and forced himself upon her. Cherry had cried for so long after that had happened, but once again, Deuce managed to convince Cherry that that was the normal thing to do and she believed him.

This horrific act carried on every single night. Cherry would always refuse to willingly sleep with Deuce, so she always got forced to have sex with him. Cherry always cried throughout the entire act, especially as she always got hit during it as well. However Cherry always forgave Deuce for it.

Cherry was an incredibly damaged person, and although she always forgave Deuce for what he did, she knew what he did to her was wrong on every level. All Cherry wanted was someone who would stand up for her, help her, protect her and treat her right, because she knew that she couldn't do it herself because she was too vulnerable to Deuce's charm. Therefore, Cherry hoped that working for the WWE would be a new start for her and would allow her to find someone who would treat her well, and help her escape from Deuce. Whether or not that would happen, Cherry didn't know but she hoped with all her heart that it would.

Cherry opened the door to the arena, took a deep breath and said in a slightly nervous voice,

"OK Cherry today will hopefully be the start of the rest of your life, just think positively and you'll be fine!"

No matter how much Cherry tried to think positively, nothing could ease her worries. Cherry had no idea why she was so anxious, but she thought it may have something to do with the fact that she knew she was going to be working with Deuce now, and would be at his mercy for the entire day rather than when they were just at home.

Cherry looked down the many, many corridors that led in countless directions and she began to feel increasingly lost. Cherry spun round in circles, frustration overtaking her as she desperately tried to find the correct way to go. After a few attempts, Cherry resigned herself to the fact that she was lost and that maybe this wouldn't be the brand new start of her life that she had hoped for. Cherry sighed deeply, feeling tears creep to her eyes as she realised that what she had now was the best she was ever going to get. However, little did Cherry know, but working for World Wrestling Entertainment would let her accomplish everything she'd ever wanted, including finding someone who would love her.

Cherry sighed again, as she put her suitcase down. Why had she taken this job? It had been the worst decision she had ever made. Cherry sat on top of her pink suitcase, and she rested her head in her hands letting the tears that she had held in her eyes since the night before, finally spill onto the floor.

On the night before, Cherry had been through a terrible ordeal. As usual Deuce had come home in a foul mood and he had hit Cherry for not having his tea ready on time. However, that night Deuce had been in an even worse mood than usual and he had beaten Cherry up until she screamed for mercy. Cherry had ended up with a bloody nose, two black eyes, a bruised cheek, a scratched wrist, and bruises all down her back. Cherry had been able to cover up most of these injuries with make-up, just as Deuce had told her to do, but she was still worried that someone would find out.

Again, Deuce had raped Cherry, as usual. However, because Cherry had supposedly been so badly-behaved, it had been so much more violent than what she was used to, and Cherry still had not recovered, in fact she thought she never would. Cherry was so scared, it was unbelievable. This wasn't how Cherry had envisaged true love, but because of the way Deuce had treated her, Cherry believed that what she had now would be the best that she would ever get.

Cherry let the tears flow freely, as she sobbed uncontrollably as she relived what Deuce had done to her. Suddenly Cherry heard a small, but deep voice say,

"Excuse me, sorry but are you all right?"

Cherry didn't recognise the voice so she was immediately nervous. If Deuce caught her talking to another man then she would be punished worse than she ever had before. However, she couldn't ignore this person, so Cherry looked up nervously and said in a shaky voice,

"Yeah, I'm fine thanks, don't worry about me!"

"Are you sure?" asked the man, in a concerned voice, kneeling down in front of Cherry and looking into her eyes.

"Not really!" said Cherry, still in a nervous voice.

"What's wrong?" he asked, again looking genuinely concerned.

"Just nervous!" said Cherry, managing a weak smile.

"What? A beautiful girl like you?" he asked, dazzling Cherry with his smile "what do you have to be nervous about?"

"You…you think I'm beautiful?" asked Cherry, genuinely shocked.

"Yeah!" said the man "you're amazingly beautiful, now what do you have to be nervous about?"

Cherry knew she shouldn't be opening up to this man, but there was something about him that eased her nervousness and made her want to open up to him, so she said,

"Well, I'm new here, and I'm a bit lost!" said Cherry.

"Oh wow!" said the man happily "you're a new diva? Well, pleased to meet you! I'm Shannon Moore!"

"I'm Cherry," said Cherry, taking Shannon's outstretched hand "pleased to meet you!"

"Oh, such a beautiful name for such a beautiful person!" said Shannon, as he gently kissed Cherry's hand as she blushed furiously, as she became more and more nervous about Deuce's potential reaction.

"Wow, thanks!" said Cherry, in an extremely happy voice, in fact she couldn't remember the last time she had been so happy.

It was only then that Cherry got a proper look at Shannon. He had dark blonde hair that was highlighted with light blonde streaks and fell down to just below his neck. His ears were pieced and he had bright, dazzling blue eyes and a charming smile. His arms were covered in various tattoos, and he was sporting various sweatbands. He was wearing long, torn jeans that suited him perfectly, along with black trainers and a white shirt, which was decorated with various Celtic symbols. Cherry was not one to judge people by their appearance but she had to say that Shannon was incredibly handsome and she immediately felt attracted to him.

Shannon meanwhile was dazzled by Cherry's natural beauty. She wasn't stick thin like all the other divas in World Wrestling Entertainment, but the shape of her body was perfect. She was wearing tight jeans and a black t-shirt, with Aerosmith's logo on it. She sported black boots and a black hoodie decorated with silver jewels. Her hair was long, naturally blonde and it cascaded down her back in glorious curls. Her smile and her eyes were dazzling and Shannon instantly fell in love with her.

Shannon smiled warmly. He instantly felt attracted to Cherry, but he was quite sure that she was hiding a deep, difficult secret. He could see the pain in her eyes, despite her attempt to hide it and he could also see the tears behind her smile, and he felt compelled to try and find out what her secret was and to help her through it, even if doing that took up all his time.

"Do you have anywhere you need to go Cherry?" asked Shannon.

"I have to go and meet my boyfriend!" said Cherry, sighing.

Shannon couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something in Cherry's voice that made him worry about her relationship with her boyfriend. She seemed very cagey about her relationship, and Shannon instantly knew something was wrong. However, because Shannon had just met Cherry and didn't want to upset her, he decided not to push the issue. However Shannon decided that if Cherry needed him he would always be there for her.

"Boyfriend?" asked Shannon "aww, that's a shame, a beautiful girl like you is taken! Who's you're boyfriend?"

"Deuce." said Cherry, in an expressionless voice after a short pause.

"Really?" asked Shannon, disappointed.

"Yeah." said Cherry in the same expressionless voice as before.

"Look, I don't mean any offence," said Shannon, choosing his words carefully "and I know you're in love with Deuce, but what is a beautiful, lovely, kind, innocent, sweet girl like you doing with a thug like that?"

"You don't like him then?" asked Cherry.

"No," said Shannon "I'm sorry if I offended you, but he's just made everyone's lives hell, flexing his muscles and using his power to intimidate people!"

"It's all right, I don't take any offence!" said Cherry, smiling sweetly "I know Deuce can be intimidating and that he has a temper, but he can be so sweet and romantic at times too! He's the first guy I've ever gone out with!"

"Really?" asked Shannon, in a shocked voice "you mean before Deuce, you'd never had a boyfriend?"

"No," said Cherry "boys just never seemed interested in me, either that or I wasn't pretty enough!"

"Well all those guys are idiots because you're beautiful!" said Shannon "and Deuce is lucky to have you. I hope he treats you like a princess, because you deserve nothing less than that, and I know if I was going out with someone as lovely as you, I would make them the centre of my world!"

"Wow," said Cherry, in awe "that's so unbelievably sweet!"

"Well, I try!" said Shannon, smiling "but you sound like what I just said is like a new idea for you! Doesn't Deuce make you the centre of his world?"

"He tries," said Cherry "but…it's just…work…and…other things…they get in the way!"

Cherry had been so close to telling Shannon all about what Deuce had done to her, but then she remembered that Deuce would kill her if she told anyone, so she thought better of it. Cherry didn't understand why she had almost told Shannon-a man she had only just met-but there was just something about him that made Cherry feel at ease.

Meanwhile, after her last statement, Shannon was sure that Cherry was hiding a dark secret and he was pretty sure that the dark secret was something to do with her relationship with Deuce. Shannon was instantly worried about Cherry but he didn't want to push the issue anymore just in case he lost all the trust she already had in him.

"Oh," said Shannon "well listen Cherry, I don't want you to think I'm trying to split you and Deuce up here, or that I'm flirting with you, this is simply as a friend. If you ever need anything, you can come to me, any time, day or night, and I'll be there for you. Just come and find me, or phone me OK? No matter what time is it or however small you think the problem is, if you need something and Deuce isn't around, come to me!"

"Thank you Shannon!" said Cherry, smiling "and if you need anything, come to me, all right?"

"I'll remember that!" said Shannon, smiling, as he and Cherry exchanged mobile phone numbers.

Cherry and Shannon continued to smile at each other until Shannon came out of his reverie and said,

"Let me show you where you need to go then!" said Shannon.

"Really?" asked Cherry, in a bewildered voice "you would do that for me?"

"Course I would!" said Shannon "you're lovely, and I can't leave such a lovely girl alone in her hour of need. I can't leave you when you're lost, can I?"

"Aww thank you!" said Cherry "you're so sweet!"

"Well it's easy to be sweet when I have someone like you to inspire me!" said Shannon, taking Cherry's hand and spinning her in a circle "I mean you're so beautiful it's absolutely unbelievable, are you sure you're real and not one of my dreams?"

"Yes I'm real!" said Cherry, laughing.

"Prove it!" challenged Shannon, grinning.

"Well," said Cherry, grinning mischievously "would one of you're dreams be able to do this to you?"

With that, Cherry smiled and reached up to Shannon's hair, ruffling it and messing it up in the process. She giggled, watching Shannon's reaction change from one of confusion, to one of mock annoyance. If Cherry would have done that to Deuce she would have got hit, but Shannon seemed to have enjoyed it.

"Hey!" he said playfully "you messed up my hair!"

"Well you asked me to prove that I was real!" said Cherry smiling "so does that prove it?"

"Hmm, maybe!" said Shannon, grinning "but to get full proof I might have to tickle you!"

"Well you'll have to catch me first!" said Cherry as she ran away from Shannon, laughing all the way.

"Oh well, I like a challenge!" said Shannon, smiling as he ran after her.

Cherry was no match for Shannon, he had caught up to her in a second, and he wrapped his strong arms around her waist. Cherry tensed momentarily, thinking that perhaps Deuce had got hold of her again, but then when she heard Shannon's silky voice, she relaxed.

"Got you!" said Shannon, his warm breath tickling Cherry's neck "now to test if you're real or not!"

With that Shannon started tickling Cherry. Cherry immediately started giggling and soon Shannon and Cherry collapsed to their knees, both overcome with laughter.

"So am I real then?" asked Cherry, five minutes later once Shannon had stopped tickling her.

"Yes you're real!" said Shannon "which is awesome for me, because it means I get to see you again!"

"Same for me!" said Cherry.

"So where did you want to go?" asked Shannon.

"Well I want to go to my dressing room and drop my stuff off, then I need to go to Deuce's room to meet him, but I don't know where either room is at the moment!"

"Don't worry, I'll take you!" said Shannon "what's your room number?"

"777." said Cherry.

"Wow!" said Shannon, happily "that's right next to mine!"

"Really?" asked Cherry, happily.

"Yeah!" said Shannon.

"That's fantastic!" said Cherry, smiling a genuine smile "so what number is Deuce's room?"

"313." said Shannon.

"Oh good!" said Cherry "that means I can get some time on my own then!"

Shannon thought the last comment was strange, but he put it to the back of his mind, thinking it was more important to get Cherry to her room.

"Now we've discovered that, let's get you to your room!" he said.

"All right then," said Cherry, who picked up her suitcase.

"No Cherry!" said Shannon taking the suitcase from her "I'll carry that for you!"

"Shannon, you don't have to!" said Cherry, trying to pull the suitcase off him.

"Yes I do!" said Shannon persistently "Cherry please let me help you! I want to, please! I just want to help you!"

"OK, OK, you can help me!" said Cherry, smiling "so where do we have to go then?"

"This way!" said Shannon joyfully, pulling Shannon down the corridor "can you keep up with me?"

"Easy!" said Cherry, running alongside Shannon.

"Wow I'm impressed!" called Shannon, as he and Cherry rounded a corner "normally the other girls can't keep up with me!"

"Well I'm not like any other girl!" said Cherry, happily "I'm unique!"

"I know and that's why you're so fantastic!" said Shannon, as he slowed down.

"Thanks!" said Cherry, laughing "I like being fantastic!"

"It seems so easy for you to be fantastic, Cherry," said Shannon "how do you do it?"

"I don't know," said Cherry honestly "to be fair I didn't even know I was fantastic before you told me!"

"Well, trust me, you are fantastic!" said Shannon truthfully.

The smile that currently graced Cherry's face was so huge that she thought it would never disappear. She couldn't ever remember being this happy and as she and Shannon were walking along the corridors together, she felt her attraction towards the man walking next to her increase.

"Here we are!" said Shannon suddenly, jolting Cherry out of her thoughts "your room!"

"Aww thanks Shannon!" said Cherry, smiling, taking the key she had been given out of her pocket and unlocking the door.

Shannon and Cherry stepped into her room together and Cherry gasped in amazement as she saw the room.

"_This_ is my room?" she asked, genuinely shocked.

"Yep!" said Shannon.

"It's amazing!" whispered Cherry.

"Yeah it is!" said Shannon "but then again, an amazing room for an amazing girl!"

Cherry blushed again as she looked around the room. There was a king-sized double bed, with a red silky duvet covering it. There was a huge wardrobe and a few chests of drawers too. There was a little living room area with two comfortable looking leather sofas, a small desk and a widescreen satellite television, on top of a cabinet with a stereo, DVD player and video in it. There was also surround sound and a small kitchen area with a giant fridge freezer and all the normal kitchen appliances. A door led to a different room that Cherry assumed must be the bathroom, and she decided to explore that later.

"You all right Cherry?" asked Shannon.

"Yeah I'm fine, just blown away by how nice this is!" said Cherry.

"It is awesome the first time you see a room that WWE gives you!" said Shannon.

"I need to unpack!" said Cherry suddenly.

"I'll help you!" said Shannon, taking a bag before Cherry could argue.

Cherry and Shannon spent the next half an hour unpacking all of Cherry's stuff and putting it away. Once they had finished Cherry said,

"Thanks for the help Shannon!"

"No problem!" said Shannon, who was now lying on the bed "hey this bed's comfortable, come and test it out!"

"I don't know…" said Cherry dubiously.

"Aww, please!" said Shannon, pouting.

"Oh, all right then!" said Cherry, smiling as Shannon grinned and held his arms out to her.

Cherry climbed onto the bed and sat next to Shannon, who looked up at her from the position that he lay in.

"Cherry?" he asked "are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine!" said Cherry, smiling.

Shannon wasn't quite sure what it was about Cherry's smile, but something told him that Cherry was upset about something.

"Are you sure?" asked Shannon, sitting up, looking into Cherry's eyes, while tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

Before Cherry could respond, her phone started ringing loudly in her pocket. Cherry immediately became nervous and as she looked at the name on her phone, those nerves only intensified. It was Deuce and Cherry knew she would be in trouble.

"It's Deuce," said Cherry, trying to sound enthusiastic "I'm going to take this into the bathroom, I shouldn't be long, is that OK?"

"Yeah that's fine, take your time!" said Shannon "I'm not going anywhere!"

Cherry smiled nervously as she walked into the bathroom, closed the door, sat down and answered her phone.

"Hello?" she said nervously.

"Where are you?" thundered Deuce's voice.

"I-In my r-r-room!" whispered Cherry, in a terrified voice.

"Why didn't you come straight to my room when you got to the arena?" growled Deuce.

"I th-thought it would be b-best t-to drop my stuff off in m-my room f-first!" stuttered Cherry.

"You're lying to me!" roared Deuce, making Cherry start sobbing in fear.

"I'm n-not Deuce, I promise y-you!" she stammered.

"You are!" shouted Deuce "you've got a man in there with you, haven't you?"

"N-No, I s-swear, I l-l-love y-you!" sobbed Cherry.

"You're lying!" yelled Deuce "you know you belong to me, and me only, and when you've finished unpacking, or whatever you're doing, I want you to come to my room and I'm going to prove that your mine! Is that clear?"

"Y-Y-Yes s-sir!" sobbed Cherry.

"Good!" growled Deuce before he hung up.

Cherry put her phone away, and put her head in her hands, letting the sadness overtake her. She sighed deeply as she wiped the tears out of her eyes, but as soon as she did that, more tears fell, and Cherry knew it was pointless.

Cherry walked out of the bathroom, hoping that Shannon would not notice how upset she was, but she knew in the back of her mind that he would.

Sure enough, Cherry had only walked five steps into the room and Shannon said,

"Hey Cherry!"

"Hey." said Cherry, struggling to keep her voice even, as she looked up with tears running down her cheeks.

"Oh my God!" said Shannon in alarm, as he quickly clambered off the bed and rushed over to Cherry "Cherry! What's wrong? What's happened?"

Cherry was weeping to such an extent that she couldn't say a word to Shannon. She just shook her head, as Shannon said gently,

"OK then, you don't have to tell me, tell me when you're ready, but only if you want to!"

With that Shannon embraced Cherry in his strong, muscular arms as she broke down, sobbing into his chest. It broke Shannon's heart to see Cherry like this. He had only known her for a few hours, but it seemed to Shannon that Cherry was naturally a very bubbly person, but she had a few problems, and he wanted to be the one to make them go away. Shannon already had an idea about what the problems Cherry faced were, but her hoped for her sake that he was wrong.

Suddenly Shannon felt Cherry collapsing to the floor. He looked down just in time to see her falling to his knees, and Shannon did the only thing that made sense at that time, and fell to his knees with her.

"Shh Cherry, it's ok, it's going to be all right!"

Cherry heard Shannon's words and for once, she actually believed them. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt safe in someone's arms, but today she did, all the pain, all the hurt and all the uncertainty began to gradually melt away, as Cherry cried into Shannon's chest.

"Tell me what happened Cherry?" asked Shannon gently.

Shannon felt Cherry shake her head in his embrace, and he knew instantly that she wasn't ready, so he decided not to push the issue any further, through fear of upsetting her even more.

"D-D-Don't l-l-leave m-me Shannon, p-please d-d-don't l-let m-me g-g-go!" sobbed Cherry in a hysterical fashion that made Shannon instantly panic "I d-don't w-want t-t-to b-be on m-my own!"

"I'm not going anywhere darling," whispered Shannon tenderly "I'll stay with you for as long as you need me to!"

"Th-thank you S-Shannon!" sobbed Cherry.

Shannon smiled warmly as he comforted Cherry until she gradually stopped crying and looked up at him.

"Are you feeling better now?" asked Shannon gently.

"A little bit," said Cherry, managing a weak smile "sorry I just broke down!"

"Hey you don't need to apologise!" said Shannon "it wasn't your fault!"

"Well thank you for sitting with me through it all!" said Cherry, looking down "it meant so much to me!"

Shannon sighed, and placed his finger under Cherry's chin, guiding her face upwards to look at him. Shannon noticed that Cherry flinched when he did this and he wandered why. The only thing he could think of was that it had something to do with the problems that she faced, and the secrets that she was keeping locked deep in her heart.

"It's no problem," he said sympathetically "I wasn't going to leave you in your hour of need, and I never will! I mean it Cherry, if you ever need anything you can just come to me!"

Cherry smiled, finally happy as she knew that Shannon meant what he said. She couldn't remember a man ever making her feel this special or happy. She felt herself falling in love with Shannon, but when she realised what was happening, Cherry mentally scolded herself, telling herself to stop being so silly and that someone as sweet and loving and Shannon would never love someone as ugly and stupid and her, because Deuce was the only one who would ever love her.

"Cherry are you all right?" asked Shannon slowly "you're being really quiet?"

"Yeah I'm fine!" said Cherry unconvincingly.

"You sure?" asked Shannon.

"Not really," said Cherry honestly "I think it's just nerves though, you know what I mean, I'm in the WWE, the greatest wrestling company in the world, and I don't know if I'm good enough to be here, I'm so nervous!"

"Oh Cherry!" said Shannon "listen, I'm sure you're a fantastic wrestler! After all, you must be good to be able to get into the WWE!"

"Yeah I guess you're right," said Cherry, who seemed consoled "thanks Shannon!"

"It's OK!" said Shannon, smiling.

"Can you take me to Deuce's room now?" said Cherry in a quiet and regretful voice "I really should go and meet him! He'll be wondering where I am!"

"Yeah, all right then." sighed Shannon, unhappily.

Shannon felt sadness rise in his heart as he realised his time with Cherry was coming to an end. If Shannon was honest with himself he did not want Cherry to leave. She was a great person and the only person that Shannon got on with in World Wrestling Entertainment, even though he had only known her a few hours. There were also the suspicions that Shannon had about Cherry's secret. He didn't want to make assumptions but Shannon was incredibly worried about Cherry and for that reason alone he did not want her to leave him. He wanted Cherry to stay with him so that he knew she was safe and that she was being looked after.

"Come on then you!" said Shannon, as happily as he could "I'll race you!"

"Aww, Shannon, that's not fair!" said Cherry pouting "I don't know the way!"

"You're point being?" asked Shannon, smirking playfully.

"I'm not trying to make a point!" said Cherry, smiling innocently "I'm just saying I don't want to race you!"

"And why not!" asked Shannon, in mock annoyance as he put his hands on his hips.

"Because I want my time with you to last as long as possible!" said Cherry truthfully "and if I race you then our time together might be cut short and I know I don't want that!"

"Wow!" said Shannon "you know you're amazing don't you Cherry?"

"Am I?" asked Cherry genuinely shocked.

"Yeah!" said Shannon "Deuce is lucky to have you as his girlfriend!"

Cherry smiled, blushing at Shannon's comment which had come totally out of the blue, and had flattered Cherry more than anything else before.

"Th-thank you!" stammered Cherry.

"Come on then," sighed Shannon, smiling warmly "let's get you back to your lucky boyfriend!"

Cherry nodded nervously and regretfully, as Shannon opened the door for her, following her outside. Then Shannon did something completed unexpected to Cherry, he offered her his hand. Cherry looked shocked as she gazed and Shannon's hand and then into his eyes. Cherry immediately saw that she could trust Shannon and took his hand, smiling. As they grasped each other's hands, both felt electricity shoot through their veins, while they walked down the innumerable amount of corridors, towards Deuce's room and Cherry's worst fear.

When Cherry and Shannon arrived outside Deuce's room, Shannon said,

"Well here we are Cherry!"

"Yeah," said Cherry, looking into Shannon's eyes "thanks Shannon, for everything you've done today!"

"Hey it's a pleasure!" said Shannon, grinning "it's been really fun, maybe we could do this again one day?"

"Yeah I'd like that!" said Cherry quietly, whilst she smiled.

With a smile Shannon bent down and kissed Cherry gently on the cheek before embracing her tightly.

"You are amazing Cherry!" whispered Shannon "don't let anyone tell you any different!"

"I'll try!" said Cherry quietly, as she knocked the door nervously.

Within ten seconds Deuce opened the door, angry fire that only Cherry could see engulfing his eyes. He stood looking at Shannon and Cherry before saying in a deathly calm voice.

"Ah Cherry, there you are!"

"Yeah, sorry Deuce," said Cherry nervously "I got lost and Shannon helped me find my way!"

"Well thank you Shannon!" said Deuce in the same calm voice "come on Cherry, let's go inside, see you later Shannon."

"Bye," said Shannon "see you soon Cherry."

As she was pulled inside the room, Cherry felt the fear overtake her, but she managed a weak smile, even though she refused to look into Shannon's eyes. Shannon smiled back just before Deuce slammed the door in his face, leaving Shannon to feel incredibly worried for Cherry's safety. However, as Shannon had no proof, he was resigned to doing nothing, but hoping Cherry was all right as he walked slowly back to his room.

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**So what did you think?**

**Should be updated soon! Thank you for reading!**


	2. Punishments

**A/N: Hi! I'm back, as promised! I hope you enjoyed my last chapter and thank you to those of you who reviewed it! It means a lot when someone likes what you've written!**

**Well here's chapter two! I changed the rating of the story from T to M because I thought that the content in this chapter was more appropriate for an M Rating.**

**I hope you enjoy it! Don't forget to review!**

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**~ CHAPTER TWO ~**

**PUNISHMENTS**

Deuce dragged Cherry into his room and threw her to the floor before slamming the door behind him, with such force that the whole room shook. Cherry trembled from her position on the floor, she didn't even dare to get up, through the fear of what Deuce would do to her if she disobeyed him. After all, Cherry had learnt that the best thing to do, was to stay in the same place, so that the beatings were perhaps more bearable, if that was even possible.

Cherry knew that the punishment she was going to suffer was going to be worse than ever before, because Deuce had seen her with another man, which meant she had deliberately disobeyed him. Cherry was terrified, she wasn't sure if she was going to be able to withstand it, but she would try. After all, perhaps if Cherry focused on the time she had spent with Shannon, she could take all the punishment, because the one place Deuce couldn't control was her mind, so hopefully, the strength that Shannon had exhibited would give Cherry strength too.

Deuce turned around and Cherry gasped in fear. He took off his leather jacket and threw it on the bed, and Cherry's eyes widened; she knew she was going to get it now, Deuce never did that unless he was really, really angry.

"Deuce," said Cherry in a small, fearful voice "I…I'm s-sorry!"

"Shut up you worthless girl!" growled Deuce.

Cherry looked into Deuce's eyes and saw fire there that scared her even more. Just the mere look in Deuce's eyes scared Cherry to such an extent that she started to sob quietly. She didn't mean to and she knew she would get into trouble but Cherry just couldn't help it, as the tears started to fall.

"I said shut up!" shouted Deuce "that means don't say anything, don't do anything and most of all stop those stupid, pathetic tears, you worthless idiot!"

Cherry could not stop crying, she was too heartbroken and scared. Shannon had made her feel so good about herself and she had been truly happy for the first time in a long time, and now all of those happy feelings were evaporating so fast, that Cherry thought she would never be happy again.

"You're not stopping those tears!" said Deuce in a dangerous voice "I'll count to three and if you haven't stopped those stupid tears, you will get it! One…two…three!"

Cherry could not stop the tears, in fact she only started sobbing more intensely, therefore making Deuce even angrier.

"Right that's it!" yelled Deuce, advancing on Cherry.

Cherry shook in fear and began to crawl away from Deuce.

"Don't move away from me!" shouted Deuce.

Deuce grabbed Cherry's arms and lifted her up to that his fiery eyes met her aqua blue ones that were swimming with tears.

"You're going to pay for disobeying me and being with that idiot, Moore!" he roared.

"We didn't do anything!" whimpered Cherry "I swear!"

"You're lying to me!" bellowed Deuce.

"I'm not Deuce!" whispered Cherry "I swear! I love you and only you!"

"So why were you with Moore then?" asked Deuce in a sinister voice.

"I told you," stammered Cherry "I got lost, and he helped me find my way back here. It didn't mean anything!"

"I saw you with him. I know how you feel about him. So you're lying to me!" said Deuce angrily "and you know I don't like it when you lie to me!"

"I'm s-sorry Deuce!" stuttered Cherry.

"There's no point in apologising!" shouted Deuce "you're going to get punished anyway!"

"No Deuce please!" pleaded Cherry "please…"

"Shut up!" screamed Deuce "you're a worthless piece of garbage and you need to be treated as such, so accept it!"

Cherry began sobbing again, which of course only made Deuce angrier. The fire in his eyes blazed more intensely than ever before and Cherry knew she was in trouble, but despite that horrifying revelation Cherry could not stop crying.

Deuce growled dangerously and slammed Cherry's back against the wall. Cherry whimpered in pain, as she realised that she was going to have lots of horrible bruises on her back. Deuce was always very careful to only injure Cherry in places that people could not see, so that no one got suspicious. If Deuce did ever slip up, then he would make sure Cherry covered the bruises up with make up, and had some excuses to justify them.

Deuce dropped Cherry to the floor and Cherry gasped in fear as Deuce raised his hand and slapped her across the cheek. He slapped her hard, so there was a red mark, but it was not hard enough that there would be a bruise.

Deuce breathed deeply, smirking as he yelled viciously,

"This will teach you to obey me and not talk to other men! You belong to me and only me, and it's going to be like that forever and ever!"

Then Deuce kicked Cherry in the stomach, leaving her coughing, winded, and gasping for air, while he simply laughed. Cherry sobbed harder and harder, getting more and more scared as Deuce kicked her again and again, as it became harder and harder for her to breathe. She was sure one of her ribs was broken, but she knew that even that would not stop Deuce.

"Please…" whimpered Cherry breathlessly, as she cowered in the corner of the room.

"What is it Cherry?" sneered Deuce "you want me to hit you again, because you haven't learnt your lesson?"

"No…" sobbed Cherry "please…stop…"

"Not going to happen Cherry," said Deuce laughing maniacally "so just take your punishment and accept it!"

Suddenly Deuce grabbed Cherry's hair and pulled her head forward and back in quick succession resulting in Cherry's head bashing against the wall with extreme force. Cherry felt the whiplash in her neck instantly, and she could feel a lump forming on her head too. Dizziness also engulfed Cherry too and her head spun as Deuce continued to kick and punch her relentlessly.

Deuce physically abused Cherry for the next half an hour, but for Cherry it felt like an eternity of pain and heartbreak. By the time Deuce had finished, Cherry had bruises all over her back and abdomen, as well as whiplash in her neck and a bump on her head, and she was sure she had internal injuries, like broken ribs too.

However, the nightmare still wasn't over for Cherry, because as Deuce finished beating her up he said in a malicious voice,

"Now Cherry, I'm going to prove to you that you belong to me and only me!"

Cherry looked up at Deuce in horror, she knew what was coming and it was going to be horrible and haunt her forever. However, to humour Deuce, Cherry had to lie and say that she didn't know what was going to happen.

"Do you know how I'm going to do that Cherry?" asked Deuce grinning.

"N-No!" stammered Cherry nervously, even though it was quite the opposite.

"Well let me show you!" sneered Deuce.

With that Deuce pulled Cherry roughly to her feet and threw her onto the bed. Cherry shook in fear as Deuce knelt over her and said,

"You're going to show you how much you love me aren't you Cherry? You're going to sleep with me aren't you?"

"Deuce," protested Cherry in a small voice "I'm tired and hurting, can't we wait?"

"Are you disobeying me again Cherry?" asked Deuce in a dangerous voice.

"N-No!" said Cherry in a fearful voice "I promise you!"

"Well I think you are!" said Deuce dangerously.

"I'm not!" said Cherry in a small voice.

"Now you're arguing!" breathed Deuce.

"But…" began Cherry, before she was cut off by Deuce.

"You're going to be punished now," said Deuce "after all, that's what you deserve! And remember I'm only doing this because I love you! You love me don't you Cherry?"

"Yes I do, Deuce!" said Cherry, trying to show enthusiasm.

"Say it then Cherry," said Deuce, touching Cherry's cheek roughly "tell me how much you love me!"

"I love you Deuce!" whispered Cherry, tears in her eyes.

"Good girl, and how much do you love me?" whispered Deuce.

"Lots and lots and lots!" said Cherry, repeating the textbook reply that she knew Deuce wanted to hear "I love you more than the sun, the stars, the moon and the oceans. I love you more than my own life, you are my world!"

"Good girl!" said Deuce, smiling a sick twisted smile, that Cherry knew only too well.

With that Deuce kissed Cherry with such force that Cherry felt her lip start to bleed. However this did not deter Deuce who continued to kiss her roughly. Cherry made the mistake of gasping in pain as Deuce squeezed her shoulders, and Deuce immediately took the opportunity to make the kiss more passionate.

Deuce began to become more forceful as he removed Cherry's clothes. All Cherry wanted to do was push him off her and scream and run away, but she had learnt over the few months that it was less painful for her if she didn't struggle.

Therefore, to try and escape from what Deuce was doing all Cherry did was close her eyes, and pray that it would end soon. Cherry also tried to think of Shannon, his smile, his eyes and the way he had made her feel just by being so nice to her. Cherry's thoughts of Shannon allowed her, much to her delight to shut out the pain for a millisecond, and remember the happiness she had felt, which also made the whole ordeal much more bearable.

Cherry did not know how long it was before she felt Deuce shoving her clothes back on her, but it had felt like an eternity, and it was only when she heard the bed creak and Deuce stand up that she opened her eyes.

"Go!" barked Deuce "and don't ever let me catch you with that freak again!"

Cherry didn't need telling twice. She clambered slowly off the bed, assessing in her brain, the damage that her body had suffered, and knowing immediately that it was more serious than usual. She stood up and was immediately unsteady, but she managed to slowly limp towards the door. As Cherry opened the door and went to step out of the hellhole of a room, Deuce grabbed her arm in a vice like grip and said,

"Stop limping, you worthless girl, do you want people to know what I did to you by accident? do you want them to take me away from you? Do you want to be on your own in this cruel world with no one to care for you?"

"N-No!" stammered Cherry, although her actual thoughts were the exact opposite of that.

"That's what I thought!" said Deuce "now let's see your walking then!"

Cherry tried to walk normally, without the limp in her step, but it was impossible. The harder she tried, the more pronounced the limp became, and the more angry Deuce looked as he followed Cherry.

"Walk normally!" shouted Deuce, pushing Cherry along.

"I'm trying!" whispered Cherry nervously.

"You're not trying hard enough!" shouted Deuce, pushing Cherry along, roughly again.

Cherry hoped there was someone around who would help her, but to her horror and sadness there was no one. The corridor was completely deserted.

Deuce continued to push Cherry along, each push getting more and more forceful as Cherry tried harder and harder to stop her limp. However, it was impossible, Cherry was hurting and she could not stop limping.

Suddenly Cherry saw a massive flight of stairs in front of her that she and Deuce were getting closer and closer too.

"Deuce, the stairs!" said Cherry in alarm.

"Yes I see them!" said Deuce in a deadly calm voice "you're going to walk down them!"

"I don't think I can!" said Cherry.

"I don't care!" shouted Deuce "you will walk down them!"

Cherry became more and more nervous as she and Deuce approached the steps. There was no way Cherry could walk down the stairs and she knew it. She also knew that because she couldn't walk down the stairs, she was going to get punished by Deuce again.

Cherry was now stood on the end of the landing, the intimidating staircase below her.

"Walk!" barked Deuce.

"I c-can't!" sobbed Cherry, as she tried to take a tentative step down the stairs.

As Cherry tried to take a small step down the stairs, she felt a jolt of pain shoot up her leg and her back, which scared her so much that she had to step back up to the top of the stairs.

"I said walk!" shouted Deuce.

When Cherry did not move forward, Deuce pushed her roughly. At this point, Cherry was not holding onto anything, so when Deuce pushed her forward, she lost her balance and began to fall down the stairs. Normally Cherry would have been able to keep her balance, but with her injured leg and back, she knew she had no chance of staying at the top of the stairs.

As Cherry fell down the stairs, she hit her head, neck and back again and again until she could barely withstand the pain. She hit the last step with a bone-crunching thud and rebounded to the floor, banging her head on the wall in the process. She felt the dizziness overtake her, and she could feel her memories and her entire head spinning and she knew she was losing consciousness. Cherry's eyes were misty, but she could just see Deuce at the top of the staircase walking away and leaving her. She immediately felt scared as she couldn't see anyone around, so she knew she was completely on her own, to face this horrible fate.

As she slipped into blackness and succumbed to the unconsciousness, Cherry wished that someone would find her and help her and if she was honest, she hoped that that person would be Shannon. As Cherry finally slipped into the awaiting blackness of unconsciousness her last thoughts were of Shannon and his smile, his eyes, his personality and the simple way he made her feel. Cherry desperately hoped he would help her and then she fell into unconsciousness.

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**What did you think? I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Thank you for reading and I'll update soon!**


	3. Waking Up And Having Fun

**Hi, I'm back! And here's the third chapter! **

**Thank you to the people who reviewed Chapter 2, your reviews were really great!!!**

**I love the Shannon and Cherry pairing, I think they're so sweet together, so I will be doing other stories with this pairings as well as others!**

**Sorry about the wait by the way, but I've had exams and been ill, but at least Chapter 3 is here now!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**~ CHAPTER THREE ~**

**WAKING UP AND HAVING FUN**

Shannon was incredibly bored. Since he had left Cherry he had found nothing to do and he was getting more and more worried about Cherry too. He knew it was none of his business but Shannon couldn't help worrying about Cherry. There was something about the expressionless nature of her voice when she said her boyfriend's name and something about all the tears she cried that made Shannon worry and think that there was something more to the secret that Cherry was hiding.

Shannon decided to go for a walk, just to try and get his thoughts straight because after all, when he had met Cherry and fallen in love with her his life was turned completely upside down. So Shannon needed a walk just to think about things and get everything clear in his mind.

Shannon walked around the various corridors and up and down the various staircases an innumerable amount of time, but he still did not see anyone. Shannon started feeling lonelier and lonelier. Meeting Cherry had only made Shannon realise just how much he wanted a girlfriend. All Shannon wanted was someone to care about him and to show him that life was worth living. Shannon wanted someone that he could love with all his heart, protect, hold and care about.

"I wish I could find someone to love!" sighed Shannon wistfully.

As Shannon walked down a staircase, he spotted a form at the bottom of the staircase. He couldn't quite see what it was, so he approached it with caution. However, suddenly Shannon spotted a mass of curly blond hair and an Aerosmith t-shirt. To his intense horror, Shannon realised that the form in front of him was in fact, Cherry.

"Cherry?" Shannon called, running down the stairs towards her.

Shannon knelt down next to Cherry's still form and said in a gentle voice,

"Cherry can you hear me?"

When Shannon received no answer from Cherry he became incredibly scared, but as he looked at her closed eyes he saw that she was unconscious. Shannon was still worried. He wasn't sure if Cherry was breathing, so he cleared her hair away from her neck and pressed his finger against it. He waited a couple of seconds and then to his relief he felt a pulse. Shannon exhaled deeply as the relief washed over him, as he ran a hand through Cherry's hair.

"What happened to you Cherry?" he whispered "I'll take you back to my room, and then I can look after you!"

With that, Shannon slowly manoeuvred Cherry, being incredibly careful not to injure her further, because after all he didn't know what her injuries were. Then Shannon placed one arm behind Cherry's back and the other under her knees, and lifted her slightly, before standing up himself.

Shannon smiled. Cherry was as light as a feather as Shannon hugged her close to his chest as if to protect her. Shannon carried Cherry along the various corridors and down the staircases towards his room. He passed Cherry's room next to his, and he wasn't sure whether to take Cherry to her room or his. After a moment's thought, Shannon decided to take Cherry to his room, because he had a full first aid kit, so if Cherry needed any medical attention, he could give it to her as quickly as possible.

Shannon opened the door to his room, still keeping Cherry held securely in his arms. Then Shannon walked slowly into his room, pulled back the covers of his bed, and lay Cherry in there carefully, before tucking the covers around her. Shannon ran to the bathroom, grabbed the first aid kit and ran back to Cherry's side. Shannon placed the first aid kit on the floor and sat at Cherry's side, gently holding her hand and stroking it.

"It'll be all right Cherry," he said "I'll look after you, I promise!"

Shannon sat by Cherry's side for the next half an hour without saying anything. He was seriously worried about Cherry. All the signs pointed towards the fact that Cherry had fallen down the stairs, but something within Shannon made him believe that something more sinister had led to Cherry's unconscious state. Shannon ran his hand through his hair and breathed deeply. He had seen the look in Deuce's eyes, the fear in Cherry's eyes and the way Deuce had pulled Cherry into the room. Shannon had suspicions that Deuce was abusing Cherry, and that he had been responsible for Cherry's current state, but because Shannon had no proof. All he could do was make sure Cherry knew he would always be there for her if she ever wanted to tell him anything. Shannon knew the worst thing to do would be to pressure Cherry into telling him anything, because they she would be driven further and further away. So Shannon decided to just be there for Cherry, starting today.

"Cherry what happened to you sweetheart?" asked Shannon quietly.

Shannon sat with Cherry for a further half an hour and he was now getting extremely worried about her status because nothing at all had changed, Cherry was still unconscious, injured and silent, and it was the silence that scared Shannon most of all.

However, suddenly Cherry groaned and stirred slightly. She fidgeted in an agitated fashion and whimpered in pain.

"Cherry?" said Shannon in a soothing voice "Cherry can you hear me?"

Cherry's eyes shot open and panic overtook them, as she continued to fidget, seeming almost hysterical.

"No, no, please no!" she cried "don't hurt me again!"

"Cherry, it's all right!" said Shannon gently "I'm not going to hurt you!"

"No, please don't, not again!" sobbed Cherry in an anguished voice.

"Cherry darling, look at me," said Shannon, in a soothing voice "it's Shannon, remember, Shannon Moore?"

"S-Shannon?" asked Cherry nervously.

"Yeah," said Shannon smiling as Cherry looked up at him "how are you feeling?"

"T-Terrible!" stammered Cherry "w-where am I?"

"You're in my room," said Shannon gently "are you all right?"

"Everywhere h-hurts!" said Cherry, as the tears began to fall down her cheeks.

"Do you want me to see what I can do?" asked Shannon "you know, see if I can take the pain away?"

"Y-You would d-do that f-for me?" stuttered Cherry in a genuinely surprised tone.

"Of course!" said Shannon kindly "do you want me to see what I can do then?"

"Yes please!" said Cherry gratefully.

"OK," said Shannon grabbing the first aid kit "where does it hurt most?"

"I think I just hurt the back of my head!" said Cherry, in what she hoped was a convincing voice.

Cherry knew that what she had just said was far from true, but she couldn't tell Shannon that her abdomen hurt, or that she knew her legs were bruised because that would result in difficult questions, and Cherry knew she couldn't tell Shannon what had happened because of Deuce's reaction.

"OK then," said Shannon sceptically "let's have a look and see what we can do!"

Cherry smiled slightly nervously, as Shannon placed dabbed cotton wool in a bowl of water and held it towards her. Cherry immediately flinched, making Shannon drop the cotton wool and stroke Cherry's hand soothingly,

"I'm not going to hurt you Cherry I promise," he said "I want to help you, please let me help you!"

"You will be gentle won't you?" asked Cherry, in a voice that was so desperately seeking reassurance.

"Of course I will," said Shannon gently "and if you want me to stop at any time you just have to tell me, OK?"

Cherry nodded, making Shannon smile as he cleared some of Cherry's hair away from the back of her head, feeling a lump there. Cherry gasped in pain, and immediately dissolved into tears, but to Shannon's relief, there was no blood, so it wasn't as serious as he thought.

"Cherry, honey it's all right!" he whispered "you've got a pretty nasty bump on the head, but you'll be fine, all you need is some ice on there and it should be fine!"

Cherry nodded unhappily, tears still running down her cheeks. Shannon sighed sympathetically, looking into Cherry's eyes and wishing that he could help her. He handed her an ice pack wrapped in a tea towel, which Cherry tenderly held to her head, whimpering in pain slightly.

"Cherry," he asked slowly "what happened?"

"I just fell down the stairs!" said Cherry, hoping her voice would convince Shannon.

"Are you sure?" asked Shannon.

Cherry nodded but she refused to look Shannon in the eyes. Shannon gently put his finger under Cherry's chin and guided her face up to look at him. Cherry visibly flinched again, but when she saw Shannon's kind eyes instead of Deuce's fiery ones, she relaxed a little bit.

"I don't believe you if I'm honest Cherry," said Shannon, choosing his words carefully "but I'm not going to pressure you to tell me anything. If you ever need me though, just come to my room, or ring me, any time of day, any day of the year, any time you need me I'll be there!"

"Thank you Shannon!" whispered Cherry.

"It's no problem!" said Shannon "now come on, me and you are going to have some fun! We'll watch a film if you want, or listen to music or play a game, anything you want to do!"

"C-Can I have a hug?" asked Cherry quietly.

"Course you can!" said Shannon, holding out his arms for Cherry.

Cherry placed the ice pack on the bed and hugged Shannon tightly, as Shannon did the same to her. However, at the same time Shannon was very careful, because he had suspicions that Cherry was hurting elsewhere, but she just wasn't telling him, so he didn't want to cause her more pain.

"So what do you want to do?" asked Shannon kindly.

"Can we watch a film?" asked Cherry.

"Sure!" said Shannon happily "what do you want to watch?"

"I really don't mind," said Cherry "you choose!"

"No Cherry, you choose!" said Shannon "I'll watch anything!"

"Are you sure?" asked Cherry, looking at the massive collection of DVD's that Shannon possessed.

"Yes of course I'm sure!" said Shannon smiling warmly "I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it!"

"Thank you!" said Cherry, who was genuinely heartened by Shannon's gesture.

Shannon smiled as Cherry looked through his collection of DVD's in awe. After about five minutes she chose "The Boat That Rocked." Shannon immediately approved of her choice, it was one of his favourite films of all time, and so he would happily sit and watch it with Cherry. Cherry's choice of film surprised Shannon, after all he didn't think she would like films like "The Boat That Rocked" but he was overjoyed she did, because that just made her more intriguing and more lovable in Shannon's eyes.

"Do you want anything from room service Cherry?" asked Shannon.

"I don't want to make you spend too much money on me Shannon!" said Cherry worriedly.

"Hey," said Shannon happily "it's not me spending the money, it's the WWE! We charge room service bills to them, so is there anything you want?"

"Can we get some ice cream?" asked Cherry smiling.

"I like the sound of that!" said Shannon excitedly "what flavours do you like? Vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, mint, or my favourite double chocolate chip?"

"Ooh double chocolate chip!" said Cherry excitedly.

"All right then!" laughed Shannon as he picked up the phone and dialled room service "hello, room service? Yeah, can I have two tubs of double chocolate chip ice cream, two spoons, two bottles of coke and two glasses brought up to room 776 please?"

"With bendy straws!" whispered Cherry excitedly, as Shannon tried to suppress his laughter.

"And two bendy straws please? Thank you! Charge the bill to World Wrestling Entertainment please!" said Shannon, before hanging up and laughing along with Cherry "bendy straws?"

"Hey, I love bendy straws!" said Cherry grinning "especially the really curly ones! They are so fun! They really are awesome!"

"That's true!" said Shannon smiling "come on let's put the DVD on!"

Shannon helped Cherry out of the bed and onto the sofa because he wasn't sure how well she would be able to walk, and how supposedly falling down the stairs had affected her. Once he had sat Cherry on the sofa, Shannon closed the curtains before turning on the TV, putting the DVD in the DVD player and turning on the surround sound. As soon as Shannon sat down, and went to press play, someone knocked the door, and a voice called,

"Room service!"

Shannon smiled, got up and answered the door. Sure enough it was room service, who gave Shannon the ice cream and the coke before departing.

"I hope you're ready for this Cherry," said Shannon, grinning "these are huge tubs of ice cream!"

"Of course I'm ready Shannon!" said Cherry happily "but are you ready?"

"Darling, you know I'm ready?" said Shannon coolly, as he sat down and handed a tub of ice cream to Shannon.

"Wow!" exclaimed Cherry in amazement "ice cream, coke, bendy straws, a fantastic film and a great friend, what else could anyone need?"

"What about a blanket?" asked Shannon.

"Ooh that sounds nice!" said Cherry.

"Here we are then!" said Shannon pulling a blanket off the bed and wrapping it around both him and Cherry "now it's perfect!"

Cherry nodded as Shannon pressed play on the remote and the two friends settled down to watch the film. They both had such a great time watching the film together. Both Shannon and Cherry laughed at the same bits, and when Cherry felt near to tears at the end of the film, Shannon put his arm around her, and comforted her. Then they both cheered and clapped at the end of the film.

"Thanks Shannon!" laughed Cherry, as Shannon got up to and opened the curtains.

"What for?" asked Shannon, sitting back down after throwing the blanket onto the bed.

"For just being there and for letting me have so much fun with you today. It's been the best day of my life!" said Cherry happily.

"It's not a problem!" said Shannon, smiling "I had a blast with you, you're amazing, and the best friend I've ever had!"

Suddenly without warning Cherry reached over to Shannon and hugged him tightly. Shannon did the same to Cherry, pulling her further into his embrace, and making Cherry feel so safe and secure that she never wanted to leave. After five minutes she reluctantly looked at her watch, seeing that it was nine o'clock and saying,

"Shannon, can you take me to Deuce's room now?"

"Yeah sure I can," said Shannon hesitantly because he really did not want to leave Cherry with Deuce "if that's what you want!"

"Yes please!" said Cherry, although she and Shannon both knew that the reality was very different.

"Come on then m'lady!" said Shannon, while Cherry linked her arm with his.

Cherry and Shannon walked through the corridors towards Deuce's room. They had had so much fun together that afternoon that they did not want to leave each other, even though they knew they had to.

When they got to Deuce's door, Cherry raised a hand to knock on the door, but before she could Shannon said,

"Hang on Cherry!"

"What?" asked Cherry curiously.

"I don't believe that you falling down the stairs was an accident, but I'm not going to say anything else on the matter," said Shannon softly "if I'm right that it wasn't an accident and you ever want to tell me, then tell me when you're ready, I'll be here whenever you're ready! I'll be here whenever you need me! Just ring or come to my room all right?"

"OK Shannon, thanks!" said Cherry, hugging him.

"No problem!" said Shannon, hugging her back.

Then Cherry knocked on the door. Deuce answered, looking completely normal. He thanked Shannon for bringing Cherry back to him before taking Cherry into his room. However, neither Cherry or Shannon brought this demeanour and sure enough, as soon as Shannon was out of earshot, Deuce hit Cherry again, and took advantage of her, before falling asleep. Cherry knew she should go back to her own room, but she had tried to do that before and Deuce had been furious, so she decided, that for her own safety she shouldn't risk it, so she fell into an uneasy sleep, haunted by horrific nightmares. Even the occasional dream of Shannon was not enough to help Cherry feel better. She just hoped she could see Shannon again soon.

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**So what did you think? Let me know, I love reading your reviews.**

**I'll put Chapter four up soon, so I'll see you then!**


	4. Preparations And Revelations

**Hi everyone!**

**This is the new chapter of my story! I'm really really sorry it's taken me so long to update, but I've been really busy with school work and exams! **

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story! I really appreciate all the nice comments!**

**Anyway, I'll stop talking now and let you read!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**~ CHAPTER FOUR ~**

**PREPARATIONS AND REVELATIONS**

It was about a week since Cherry had arrived in the WWE. Deuce was still abusing her, and the beatings were getting slowly worse and worse, causing Cherry's fear of her boyfriend to increase at an unbelievable rate. Cherry still saw Shannon regularly, but it was always in secret and often only for a couple of minutes here and there, because she knew that Deuce would be furious if he knew she was still friends with Shannon.

Cherry and Shannon had taken to meeting whenever they could. These times were usually between midnight and either four or five in the morning, once Deuce had gone to sleep and before he woke up. Although Shannon still didn't know for sure that Cherry was being abused by Deuce, his suspicions were stronger than ever, and he was never happy unless Cherry was with him, because he knew that that was the only way that she was absolutely and definitely safe.

Because of the times that they met, Shannon and Cherry were used to seeing each other at perhaps their worst, but they were always happy to see each other and grateful of each moment they had together. Shannon and Cherry did various things during these few hours together, sometimes they listened to music, making sure they kept it quiet, so they didn't wake anyone up, sometimes they watched films and sometimes they just sat and talked about everything from their pasts to their favourite superstars when they were young.

Luckily for Shannon, and even more so for Cherry, Deuce had no idea what was happening. He had no idea that Shannon and Cherry were meeting together because both Shannon and Cherry knew that if Deuce found out then he would not be happy, even though they were just friends. The time that Shannon had spent with Cherry over the last week had made him realise that he was truly in love with her. Although he had only known her for a week, Shannon was certain that love was what he was feeling for Cherry, and he wanted to act on it. Meanwhile, for Cherry the time that she had spent with Shannon had made her realise that there were people in the world who cared about her. She also realised that she was definitely attracted to Shannon, and that she would have to tell him what Deuce was doing to her, because it seemed to Cherry that Shannon already had suspicions about what was happening and it would only be a matter of time until Cherry had to tell him.

It was around 6 o'clock in the morning on a Tuesday morning, which meant that it was the Smackdown tapings that night, and as well as that it was Cherry's first match against Victoria, one of the greatest WWE divas in history. Cherry was understandably nervous and as she and Shannon were walking back to Deuce's room like they did every morning, Cherry said,

"Shannon?"

"Yeah Cherry?" asked Shannon kindly.

"I'm nervous about something!" replied Cherry.

"What is it, darling?" asked Shannon worriedly.

"It's just my match against Victoria tonight!" said Cherry "what if I'm not good enough? What if my outfit doesn't look nice? What if I get injured? What if the WWE fire me?"

"You'll be fine Cherry!" said Shannon, putting his arm around her and squeezing her shoulders "you'll be fantastic and you'll be Divas Champion before you know it!"

"You really think so?" asked Cherry.

"No Cherry," said Shannon, in a firm voice "I know so!"

Cherry smiled, but she was still nervous about her outfit and the fact that she might not be pretty enough, so she said,

"I'm still not pretty enough to be a diva though, and my outfit will probably look horrible too!"

"Cherry listen," said Shannon "you're going to be the most beautiful diva in the world, and if you want, you can come and see me once you've got your outfit on and I'll tell you what I think!"

"Really?" said Cherry happily "oh thanks Shannon!"

"Hey it's all right!" said Shannon "anything that's going to get your confidence up! I know how nerve-wracking it is to have your first match here!"

Before they knew it, Shannon and Cherry were outside Deuce's room, and it was time for them to say goodbye.

"Will I see you later Cherry?" whispered Shannon.

"Of course you will," whispered Cherry "I'll come and see you before my match! You will watch my match won't you?"

"Of course I will!" whispered Shannon, smiling "and when I see you later I can tell you how awesome you did!"

Cherry smiled and hugged Shannon tightly without even thinking about it. Shannon hugged Cherry back, and when they pulled back, both were blushing furiously.

"I'd better go!" whispered Cherry urgently.

"Yeah I guess so," said Shannon "I'll see you later Cherry!"

Cherry smiled as Shannon walked away, looking over his shoulder and making sure Cherry had got into the room all right.

Cherry crept into the room, and to her relief Deuce was still fast asleep. Cherry was so used to creeping around and making no noise that she was back in the bed, beside Deuce, in a matter of seconds.

Cherry knew it was pointless her trying to go back to sleep as it was now ten past six, and Deuce would be waking up soon. However, Cherry knew that she had to pretend to be asleep and wait for Deuce to wake her up so that he wouldn't suspect anything, so she closed her eyes and waited.

Sure enough a little while later Cherry heard Deuce stirring. She was smart enough to keep her eyes closed, waiting nervously for Deuce to wake her. Soon enough Cherry felt herself being roughly shaken, and she heard a gruff voice saying,

"Get up!"

Cherry faked stirring and she groaned slightly as she rolled over so she could see Deuce.

"Morning Deuce!" she said, in what she hoped sounded like an enthusiastic voice.

"Get up!" repeated Deuce in the same tone as before.

Cherry decided that the best thing to do would be to obey Deuce, so she sat up, and then climbed out of the bed, before saying,

"I'll go and get dressed then!"

Cherry walked towards the door, only to be stopped by Deuce saying in a dangerous voice,

"Did I _say_ you could go and get dressed?"

"N-No!" stammered Cheery in an alarmed voice, as she suddenly realised the mistake she had made.

"Then why are you going to get dressed?" asked Deuce in a deathly calm voice.

"I'm s-sorry Deuce!" stammered Cherry in fear.

"Sorry isn't good enough Cherry!" shouted Deuce, as he grabbed his girlfriend by her arm "you're going to have to be punished!"

Cherry was terrified as she was dragged back onto the bed. She had learnt from experience that it was better for her to not put up a fight during these punishments, so she just laid there and prepared for the inevitable.

Cherry felt Deuce slap her face. Hard. She winced in pain and felt a tear fall down her cheek. However, this did not stop Deuce, as he slapped Cherry again before saying in a menacing voice,

"You do love me don't you Cherry?"

"O-Of course!" stammered Cherry, praying that Deuce would stop.

"You're going to show me how much you love me!" said Deuce in a demanding voice.

At the mention of this Cherry simply started to sob in such a heartbreaking way that anyone except Deuce would have given her a hug and wanted to protect her.

As Cherry felt Deuce take her clothes off and violate her in every way possible, she desperately tried to think of something that made her happy, but even her thoughts of Shannon could not help her escape the pain this time, because the truth was that the pain was just too intense.

After what felt like an eternity of intense pain, humiliation and heartbreak, Cherry felt Deuce put her pyjamas back on. However, she didn't dare to open her eyes or move until he either told her to, or left the room. Sure enough, a few minutes later, Deuce growled,

"Get up and get dressed, and hurry up about it!"

Cherry did not need telling twice as she got up and walked as quickly as possible out of Deuce's room and into her own. Cherry quickly got dressed in a simple jean, t-shirt and hoodie combo that hid the bruises on her arms but did not make her look too conspicuous. After she had got dressed, Cherry walked as quickly as she could towards Deuce's room, getting more and more nervous the closer that she got. Cherry entered Deuce's room to find him sat on the bed waiting for her,

"You took your time didn't you?" he growled.

"I'm s-sorry Deuce!" stammered Cherry in a nervous voice "I tried to be quick, I really did!"

"Whatever!" sneered Deuce "I don't care, you're worthless anyway, now come on I need to train and so do you!"

Without waiting for an answer, Deuce got up and dragged Cherry out of the room towards the gym. When they got there, Deuce sat Cherry on an exercise bike and told her to work out until she had peddled for five miles. Cherry thought this demand was silly, because five miles was a long way and she was shattered anyway. However, she didn't say anything and started to peddle as fast as she could.

"Hurry up you idiot!" called Deuce angrily.

"I'm peddling as fast as I can!" said Cherry nervously.

"Well that's not good enough, try harder!" shouted Deuce "would you like to be punished again?"

"N-No!" stammered Cherry nervously.

"Then get peddling!" shouted Deuce "or else!"

"Y-Yes sir!" stuttered Cherry, as she tried to peddle harder and faster than she ever had before.

"Good girl!" sneered Deuce cruelly, before standing up "I'm going to the pool and Jacuzzi. After you've done five miles on here I want you to do a thousand reps on the rowing machine, a thousand step ups leading with your left leg and a thousand leading with your right leg, then five miles on the treadmill, is that clear?"

"Y-Yes!" whispered Cherry.

"Good," snarled Deuce "I'll pick you up from your room at seven tonight ready for your match. Make sure you're ready or else!"

"O-OK!" stammered Cherry "I'll s-see you l-later th-then!"

"Whatever!" said Deuce harshly as he walked out of the gym.

Cherry sighed with both relief and exhaustion once Deuce had walked out of the gym. Cherry knew Deuce was nowhere near the gym as the swimming pool and Jacuzzi were on the other side of the building, so she immediately slowed down her almost hysterical peddling.

About ten minutes after Deuce had left the gym, the door opened, much to Cherry's fear, as she started to peddle even faster than before. However, Cherry was surprised to find that the person who walked through the door was not Deuce, but Shannon.

When Shannon saw Cherry, he grinned and rushed over to her, sitting on the bike next to hers and saying in a cheerful voice,

"Hey! How are you?"

Cherry knew she shouldn't be talking to Shannon, and she knew that Deuce would kill her if he knew. However, there was something about Shannon that made Cherry feel safe, and made her feel like she could talk to him, and take a risk in doing so. Shannon was watching Cherry with innocent eyes and a charming smile simply awaiting her response.

"I'm great now you're here!" Cherry said truthfully.

"Oh wow!" said Shannon happily "I feel privileged, but why weren't you great before I came in?"

"Training!" said Cherry simply.

"Good point!" laughed Shannon, while he and Cherry continued to peddle on the exercise bikes.

"Deuce said I have to do five miles on this and the treadmill, one thousand reps on the rowing machine, and two thousand step ups!" said Cherry quietly "and I'm shattered!"

"That's insane!" exploded Shannon angrily "you don't need to do that much training for one match!"

"Deuce said I do!" said Cherry.

"And where is he?" asked Shannon.

"In the pool and the Jacuzzi!" said Cherry, looking down.

"Oh that's annoying!" said Shannon, clearly annoyed "he's making you do all this and he's not here to support you? I know if you were my girlfriend, first off I would never make you do this much training, second, if you _did_ want to do this much training, I would do it with you to help you along, I wouldn't leave you on your own!"

"Really?" asked Cherry, genuinely shocked.

"Yeah, of course!" said Shannon warmly "In fact, I'm going to stay with you now and do this training with you!"

"Oh wow!" said Cherry happily as she hugged Shannon "thank you Shannon!"

"No problem!" said Shannon grinning "what time are you finishing?"

"Deuce is picking me up from my room at seven tonight, but I want to finish at six so I can show you my outfit!" said Cherry smiling, while also blushing slightly.

"Sounds good to me!" said Shannon "let's get this training done then, and then we might be able to finish earlier!"

"That's a good point!" said Cherry "I'll race you!"

"Oh are you challenging me Missy?" said Shannon grinning.

"Yep!" said Cherry cheekily "but are you going to accept?"

"You bet I am!" said Shannon smiling.

"OK then," said Cherry "you're going down!"

"No Cherry, I think you'll find it's you that's going down!" said Shannon cheekily "now let's go!"

Cherry laughed and peddled even faster than she had been before, and she was managing to match Shannon for speed, so much so that they both reached the five mile mark at the same time.

"Oh that was fun!" said Cherry laughing happily.

"Yes it was!" said Shannon "but you know I won don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah Shannon, in your dreams!" said Cherry "you know for a fact that I won hands down!"

"OK, OK," sighed Shannon "let's call it a draw, eh?"

"All right then!" sighed Cherry, smiling "what's next, the treadmill?"

"If you say so!" said Shannon, jumping down from the exercise bike.

Shannon walked round to the other side of Cherry's exercise bike, and lifted her off of it, bridal style. Cherry blushed and giggled at the same time especially as she could smell Shannon's aftershave. Shannon smiled as he saw Cherry blush, he found her blush so cute and adorable that he fell even more in love with her right then and there.

Shannon put Cherry down and they both rushed over to the treadmills. They had done their five mile run in no time and then they did two thousand step ups and a thousand reps on the rowing machine, all by four o'clock.

"Wow!" said Shannon, helping Cherry up from the rowing machine "it's only four o'clock!"

"Wow!" said Cherry "do you want to come back to my room Shannon, so I can show you my outfit for tonight?"

"Sure thing!" said Shannon, grinning as he swept Cherry into his arms.

Cherry screamed in delight and giggled as Shannon sprinted out of the gym and towards her room before she could protest. He laid Cherry down on her bed and commenced to tickling her viciously. Cherry laughed relentlessly as she tickled Shannon back and they both fell onto the bed giggling hysterically for about half an hour.

Shannon stopped laughing and put his hands behind his head as he lay on Cherry's bed. Cherry lay next to Shannon, smiling from ear to ear, she had not had this much fun in a long time, if ever. Cherry was now convinced that Shannon was meant to be in her life, and she couldn't imagine not having him there for her.

"You all right Cherry?" asked Shannon quietly, after noticing that Cherry was being even more quiet than usual.

"Yeah I'm fine," said Cherry, propping herself up on her elbows "just thinking!"

"About?" asked Shannon inquisitively.

"Stuff," said Cherry "life, and how it can sometimes be horrible and unbearable and then you meet someone who just makes your life seem worth living again! You know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I think I do!" said Shannon.

"Glad someone does!" laughed Cherry.

"Cherry, you know what you said about life being horrible and unbearable sometimes, what did you mean?" asked Shannon, curiosity overtaking him.

"Oh," said Cherry hesitating "just…that people are sometimes not what you expect and they treat you badly and make your life hell!"

Suddenly Cherry gasped, realising what she had said, but it was too late, and she couldn't take it back now.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Shannon gently, choosing his words carefully as he sensed that his suspicions about Deuce were correct "has that kind of thing happened to you?"

"Yes," whispered Cherry "I trusted people and just got it thrown back in my face!"

"That's terrible!" said Shannon "no one should ever get their trust broken, especially you! What happened?"

Cherry knew she should tell Shannon not to worry about it and that it didn't matter, but for some reason, she couldn't stop her mouth from opening and telling Shannon what was on her mind, even though she knew there would potentially be horrific consequences.

"I just…" started Cherry, before stopping suddenly.

"What Cherry?" asked Shannon gently, putting a hand over hers "what is it?"

"I just gave everything to that one person and they just ended up breaking the trust I had in them and they ended up breaking my spirit and my heart!" said Cherry, almost hysterically "and they're still doing it, and I can't stop them. I don't want to go through my heart getting broken time and time again, I want to get out but I can't! I'm scared!"

"Cherry…" whispered Shannon "Cherry, honey who did this to you?"

"What do you mean?" asked Cherry.

"Who broke your spirit, who hurt you so much that you want to get away from them?" asked Shannon "who was it sweetheart?"

"I…" started Cherry "I…can't tell you!"

"Why not?" asked Shannon "you can tell me anything!"

"I know, but I'm scared!" breathed Cherry truthfully.

"Of what?" said Shannon gently.

"Of how the person will react, I'm terrified they'll come back and get me and really hurt me, perhaps even kill me, or even kill you!" said Cherry, hysterically.

"You don't need to worry about that Cherry!" interrupted Shannon "I can look after myself and I'll look after you if they come after you!"

"And I'm also scared of your reaction!" said Cherry.

"My reaction?" asked Shannon "what do you mean?"

"I'm scared you'll be angry," said Cherry "then I'm also scared you won't want to know me anymore!"

"Cherry," whispered Shannon "I'd never be angry with you, and I will always want to know you, no matter what this is!"

"Really?" asked Cherry, looking up at Shannon, her eyes shining with tears.

"Of course!" said Shannon, smiling.

There was a short pause between the two friends as Cherry contemplated whether she was really doing the right thing. Still Cherry wasn't sure, but she had already said too much to Shannon, so really she couldn't back out now. Shannon watched Cherry intently, patiently waiting for her to say something. She didn't say anything for a couple of minutes, and then she started trembling slightly, before saying,

"I don't know where to start!"

"Just take your time!" said Shannon, in a reassuring voice, as he squeezed Cherry's hand, letting her know he was not going to leave her "I'll stay with you as long as you need me to!"

"I…I just want to escape from the pain!" said Cherry, in a voice that sounded close to tears "I can't cope with pain on a day to day basis anymore, it hurts too much, it's destroying me physically, mentally and emotionally Shannon!"

"What's happened that's causing you pain Cherry?" asked Shannon.

"Everything!" said Cherry hysterically "every minute of every day I'm in pain, I can't stop it from happening, it just does!"

"Cherry, please tell me who or what is doing this to you!" said Shannon.

"What's the point, it's my fault anyway!" shouted Cherry, burying her head in her hands.

"No Cherry, no!" said Shannon in an exasperated voice "don't think that, none of the pain is your fault you didn't ask for it!"

"But if I'd have just been good…" began Cherry, trailing off realising what she was about to say.

"Cherry?" asked Shannon, in an alarmed voice "what do you mean if you had been good?"

"Forget it!" said Cherry, suddenly switching to defensive mode.

"Cherry," whispered Shannon "please, let me in, let me help!"

"I can't!" said Cherry "you don't understand!"

"So help me to!" responded Shannon "is someone hurting you?"

Cherry resigned herself to nodding, maybe if she didn't actually _tell_ Shannon, she wouldn't feel so scared. Maybe if he guessed, she would feel better about it.

"Who is it?" asked Shannon, trying to keep his voice calm.

"I…I…it's…_him!" _whispered Cherry.

"Who Cherry?" asked Shannon, who couldn't keep his suspicions silent anymore "is it Deuce that's hurting you? Tell me the truth, OK, I promise I won't get angry! Is Deuce hurting you?"

Cherry gasped, Shannon had discovered her secret even though she hadn't technically told him. She was instantly fearful of Deuce's reaction, and for that reason, she hesitated in answering Shannon's question, but Shannon didn't pressure her, he knew he was asking her a huge question and he knew she was terrified, so the last thing she needed was Shannon to start pressuring her to tell him things that may not even be true.

Cherry was just about to answer Shannon, when suddenly there was a knock at the door. Cherry looked at her watch, seeing that it was only half past five, and wandering who it was who wanted her so urgently. Then she heard the voice which sent chills down her spine,

"Cherry are you in there?"

"Shannon!" breathed Cherry fearfully "he can't see you in here, you have to hide!"

"Why and where?" whispered Shannon.

"Because he hates you!" breathed Cherry "please Shannon, can you wait in the bathroom until you hear us both leave no matter what? Please?"

Shannon nodded letting Cherry lead him into the bathroom as she shouted,

"Just a second!"

Cherry shut the bathroom door, before taking a deep breath and opening the door to Deuce.

"Deuce!" she said, hoping she sounded enthusiastic and surprised "you're early!"

"Why aren't you ready?" growled Deuce.

"Well you told me you were picking me up at seven, so I thought I'd wait a little while!" said Cherry, fear evident in her voice.

"You should be ready!" shouted Deuce "I told you to be ready!"

"I-I'm s-sorry Deuce!" stammered Cherry, shrinking back into a corner "it won't happen again!"

"No, it won't," said Deuce "because you're going to get punished now, and hopefully you'll learn!"

Cherry gasped, but without waiting for her to say anything, Deuce slapped her hard across the cheek. Cherry cried out in pain, as she tried to block out the pain by thinking of Shannon, who she suddenly realised was hearing all of this. Deuce continued to slap and kick Cherry repeatedly until her breathing became quite laboured, and she was just shivering and cowering on the floor.

"There," sneered Deuce "I think you've learnt your lesson! But you do love me don't you Cherry?"

"Of course!" whispered Cherry, through the pain.

"Good, because you're going to show me how much you love me aren't you?" asked Deuce "because you know I love you and I only want to protect you!"

Cherry knew what was coming, and she knew it was in her best interests not to disagree with Deuce or fight him, because it would only be more painful. So she let Deuce drag her to onto the bed and climb on top of her before kissing her roughly. Cherry closed her eyes and sobbed as she let Deuce violate her. The only protests she made were the occasional whimpers or cries of pain, but these went unheeded. Cherry only opened her eyes once she felt Deuce put her clothes back on and climb off her and then, much to her relief the ordeal was over and she had survived.

"Go and get ready!" growled Deuce.

Cherry quickly obeyed him, getting changed into her outfit right then and there, because after all she couldn't risk going into the bathroom. Within five minutes Cherry was ready to go and she was dragged out of the room by Deuce, leaving Shannon alone, undiscovered in the bathroom.

Meanwhile Shannon was sat in Cherry's bathroom, tears streaming down his face and anger boiling inside him. He had of course just heard everything that had happened between Cherry and Deuce and it had upset him so deeply. Every single one of Cherry's screams or cries of pain had been like a knife through Shannon's heart. He had been scared and disgusted enough when he realised Deuce _was_ hitting Cherry and his suspicions had been correct. However nothing could have prepared Shannon for what had happened next. When Shannon realised that Deuce had forced himself onto Cherry, it had took all of Shannon's self restraint to stay in the bathroom. He knew there was the potential that Cherry would get hurt even more if he had gone to help her, and of course, he didn't want that, so he was biding his time until he helped her.

As much as it pained Shannon to leave Cherry in the atmosphere that she was in, Shannon knew that at the moment he couldn't do anything and that he would have to wait until Cherry came to him, which he hoped she would do soon, because after all she must have remembered that he was still in the bathroom, hearing everything.

Shannon sighed as he stood up and exited Cherry's room making his way down to one of the monitors so that he could watch her match with Victoria. He was extremely worried about her, and knew that she was in no condition to wrestle, but once again, he knew that there was nothing he could do, because the match was already booked and also Deuce would be keeping a close eye on Cherry. As Shannon settled down in one of the sofas to watch Cherry's match, he just prayed that she would come to him soon so that he could help her, he had to get her out of there.

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**So what did you think, let me know! Like I said I really appreciate what you have to say!**

**Anyway, I'll update soon, so I'll see you then!**


	5. Debut Match And More Punishment

**Hey everyone! This is the next chapter in my story!**

**Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read and review this story, it means a lot!**

**Anyway, enjoy this chapter!**

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**~ CHAPTER FIVE ~**

**DEBUT MATCH AND MORE PUNISHMENT**

As Cherry was dragged along the corridor towards the backstage area so she could wait for her match, she had to work incredibly hard to conceal the tears that were flooding her eyes and threatening to fall. Cherry took a few deep breaths and wiped away any stray tears, which usually worked, but today, she was so shook up that she thought she was never going to be able to hold it together during her match. The beating that Deuce had given Cherry had been more horrific than anything she had ever had to go through before, and then of course there was the fact that Deuce had forced himself on her, once again, destroying her spirit and innocence. However, the worst thing for Cherry was the fact that Shannon had heard the whole thing. She knew it would have torn him apart and she felt guilty for that, but it was too late now, Cherry just prayed that Shannon would still accept her as a friend.

"You had better win this match Cherry!" growled Deuce in a threatening voice that immediately jolted Cherry out of her thoughts.

"I w-will!" whispered Cherry, although she knew she had no chance.

"Good girl!" sneered Deuce "because remember if you don't you'll get punished, is that clear?"

"Y-Yes s-sir!" stammered Cherry nervously.

It was nearly time for Cherry's match and she was incredibly nervous. She knew she would be playing a babyface, which was her favourite role. In the past she had always been made to play a heel and she hated it, she just could not act nastily, it just was not in her nature.

Cherry knew that Victoria would be cutting a promo about her before the match, so she had to listen out for her cue and her music. Cherry felt like she was going to cry, she was so nervous, she thought she looked ugly in her outfit, her own safety was on the line and she hadn't seen Shannon either. It was that simple fact that upset Cherry most of all, because Shannon gave Cherry the confidence that she needed in order to be herself, and without having seen Shannon, and after just being violated in the worst way, Cherry's confidence was at rock bottom.

Cherry started lacing up her boots when someone interrupted her, saying,

"Good luck Cherry! See you out there!"

Cherry looked up to see Victoria standing above her, already in her wrestling gear like Cherry. Cherry smiled warmly, glad that someone had taken the time to wish her good luck. It meant a lot to her, and helped to ease her nerves a little bit, although she still would have preferred to see Shannon.

"Thanks Victoria and good luck to you too!"

Victoria smiled before walking away, leaving Cherry alone with Deuce, much to her horror. Deuce had an evil-looking grin on his face, and Cherry knew that he had evil intentions on his mind that would manifest themselves whether she won or lost her match tonight, and that made her even more nervous than before. All Cherry hoped was that when these intentions did happen, that she could go to Shannon's room and he would still accept her as a friend.

"Cherry I'm coming out to the ring with you!" announced Deuce.

"Why?" asked Cherry curiously.

"Because I said so, you stupid girl!" said Deuce, his temper suddenly flaring up "I need to make sure you don't do anything to disobey me, so that I know whether to punish you or not!"

"OK," said Cherry nervously "but are you allowed to?"

"Don't question me you stupid idiot!" shouted Deuce "you know nothing! Of course I can come to the ring with you if I want, and I don't care if you don't think I can, because you're just going to have to accept it!"

"A-All r-right th-then!" said Cherry, who was trembling.

"Good girl!" sneered Deuce "and maybe later on you can prove that you love me can't you?"

Cherry was terrified and her facial expression mirrored this as her eyes filled with tears and her bottom lip trembled. However, she knew she couldn't disagree with Deuce so she simply nodded.

Before Cherry knew it, she heard Victoria's music start, and realised that it was very nearly time for her debut. Cherry watched the monitor, listening to Victoria while she stretched, warming herself up and preparing for her match.

"I am the most dominant diva in WWE history!" said Victoria arrogantly, as the crowd booed loudly "I can beat any diva who has ever stepped foot in a WWE ring, Mickie James, Melina, Kelly Kelly, Beth Phoenix, Trish Stratus. I can beat _anyone_!"

The boos rained down on Victoria and it was totally obvious to Cherry that Victoria was completely over as a heel, so she was going to have a hard time competing with her, but she was going to try her best.

"And then," continued Victoria "there's all these new divas coming in thinking they're better than me, Gail Kim, Natalya and Cherry! I highly doubt any of you could stand up against _me,_ The Black Widow in the ring!"

That was Cherry's cue, and sure enough her music hit instantaneously. She grabbed the microphone off the road agent waiting by the curtain, and with Deuce at her side, walked out towards the ring. To her delight the crowd started cheering her, which put her at ease a little bit as she climbed into the ring, while Deuce waited on the outside.

"Victoria," began Cherry "you've got it all wrong. I haven't come to the WWE because I think I'm better than you and I think I can beat you, I came to the WWE because I want competition! I came to the WWE for experience! I came to the WWE for all these great fans!"

To Cherry's delight all the fans cheered her last statement, but Victoria was frowning and replied,

"So you're telling me you wouldn't want to be Divas Champion?"

"Yes I would, maybe in the future!" said Cherry "but first I have to prove myself to the other divas and to all these fans!"

"By beating me?" asked Victoria, raising her eyebrows.

"Well if I have to do that, then yes I will," said Cherry honestly "but I'll never say I'm better than you or any other diva!"

"Well I still think I can beat you!" said Victoria, as the crowd booed "so I'm challenging you to a match, right here, right now! So what do you say?"

"Sure thing!" said Cherry, as a referee came running down the ramp "let's do it!"

Cherry and Victoria threw their microphones out of the ring and the referee signalled the start of the match as the bell rang. First of all, Cherry and Victoria entered into an intense stare-down and the crowd started to cheer with anticipation. Then they locked up in a collar and elbow tie up, which Victoria got the best of, reversing it into a headlock. Cherry fought against the headlock, finally finding the counter she needed, lifting Victoria up and dropping her onto the back of her head. Victoria writhed in pain for a second before Cherry went for the pin attempt, which Victoria reversed into an inside cradle for a two count.

Cherry kicked out of the pin attempt and reversed her positioning to apply the Sharpshooter. The crowd went crazy. They were yelling "Tap!" over and over again, but Victoria refused to tap, crawling to the ropes, forcing Cherry to break the hold, which she did, before running the to the other side of the ring, bouncing off the ropes and giving Victoria a baseball slide, sending her to the outside. Then Cherry climbed to the top turnbuckle and went to give Victoria a missile dropkick, but Victoria moved, sending Cherry crashing to the floor. Cherry groaned in pain, particularly as the concrete only accentuated the pain she had been feeling before because of the beating she received from Deuce.

Victoria took advantage, pummelling Cherry with fists and kicks, before pulling her up by her hair, and slamming her back first into the ring apron. The referee was now at a count of six, and Victoria rolled Cherry back into the ring before climbing in herself and attempting to pin Cherry. She could only get a two count before Cherry kicked out to deafening cheers. Cherry slowly and very unsteadily climbed to her feet, she could hear Deuce shouting at her, and this made her nervous, she had all but forgotten he was out there with her, and this only reminded her of the fact that if she lost, she would be severely punished.

Cherry was stood up, supported by the turnbuckles, as Victoria gave her an Irish Whip across the ring. Then Victoria ran towards her but Cherry managed to elbow her in the face before setting her up for a running bulldog. Cherry hit her move, and went for the pin, but Victoria kicked out at two, before applying a cross-face to Cherry. Cherry struggled towards the ropes, reaching them forcing the break, which the crowd went crazy for. Victoria pulled Cherry up by her hair, but Cherry swatted her away before hitting some chops onto Victoria's chest earning a "WOO!" from the crowd, in homage to Ric Flair. With Victoria staggered Cherry placed her on the top turnbuckle before climbing up there herself, Victoria tried to fight her off but Cherry was still able to hit a huracanrana, and pin Victoria only for a two count. Both women were worn out, but both managed to stagger to their feet. Sensing that Victoria was weakened, Cherry set up for a back slide pin attempt, but to her horror, Victoria reversed it into her Widow's Peak finisher. Cherry was lying on the mat looking up at the lights and she felt woozy, so much so that before she even knew it the bell had rung and Victoria had been announced as the winner.

Cherry groaned and suddenly fear overtook her as she realised that she had lost the match, meaning her punishment would be even worse than she had first thought. Cherry heard Victoria say something to the crowd, but everything was a blur to her, as tears filled her eyes and she prepared herself for pain.

Sure enough within a matter of seconds Deuce was in the ring and he whispered in a threatening tone,

"Get up you worthless little girl, you're going to pay for that!"

Cherry gasped in fear and pain as Deuce did not wait for her to get up and simply pulled her up and out of the ring. Cherry, who had been so happy earlier when she had heard the cheers of the crowd, was now terrified as she realised that her punishment was going to be worse than she could have ever imagined before.

Cherry was led backstage by Deuce, who had a menacing sneer plastered on his face as he whispered to Cherry,

"I hope you're ready for this, you're going to suffer worse than you ever had before. If only you would have won, then you could have saved yourself!"

"I-I'm s-s-sorry Deuce!" stammered Cherry, who was trembling violently.

"It's too late now Cherry!" yelled Deuce "you disobeyed me and you're going to pay for that!"

As Deuce entered his room he lifted Cherry up and threw her all the way over to the other side of the room. Cherry had not been prepared for this so she could not prepare herself to fall safely, and her back and shoulders took the brunt of the fall, earning a scream of pain from her.

"Oh stop screaming you pathetic little freak!" shouted Deuce, walking over to Cherry and towering over her.

Cherry began to cry and tremble even more violently than she had been before. She tried to shield herself from Deuce's relentless attack but it was pointless because even if she managed to shield herself from the physical attacks, there was nothing she could do against the verbal and psychological attacks

"You're an idiot!" shouted Deuce as he kicked Cherry over and over again in the abdomen "you're worthless and useless!"

"D-Deuce, p-please s-stop!" breathed Cherry through the pain.

"No chance!" yelled Deuce "you deserve everything you're going to get!"

With that, Deuce knelt down next to Cherry and took her head in his hands. Cherry thought that the beating was over, and she started to relax, but then all of a sudden Deuce smashed her head against the wall. Cherry whimpered in pain, as more and more tears came to her eyes as the pain overtook her, but Deuce still would not stop as he repeatedly slammed her head against the wall again and again.

"Maybe now you'll learn Cherry!" bellowed Deuce "you will obey me, and you will do exactly what I tell you to, or else!"

Deuce slapped Cherry, and punched her, causing a large black bruise to develop over her right eye. Cherry shielded her eyes from a further attack, but to her horror Deuce still was not finished. He commenced to dragging her across the hard wooden floor, which of course only aggravated Cherry's bruises. Then Deuce lifted Cherry up and threw her only to the bed. Cherry began to sob again as she felt Deuce climb on top of her and violate her for what felt like the millionth time.

"You love me don't you Cherry, so you're going to show me aren't you?"

Again, as she had before, Cherry simply nodded because she knew that it would be worse for her if she disagreed with Deuce, so she simply let him violate her again.

"Good girl!" sneered Deuce, as he began to kiss Cherry roughly, so that her lips started to swell up.

Cherry closed her eyes as Deuce violated her and started to try and block the pain by thinking about Shannon. However the pain was far too intense and it was almost impossible to block out the pain, so Cherry just simply sought to survive this horrific attack, so that she could go and see Shannon.

Soon Deuce climbed off Cherry and climbed into the bed next to her, quickly falling asleep, leaving Cherry in a heap on the bed, quietly sobbing to herself in a broken-hearted fashion.

Once she was sure that Deuce was fast asleep and was not going to wake up any time soon, Cherry climbed gingerly off the bed, wincing in pain with every movement. Cherry grabbed her pyjamas and changed into them. This simple act took her a very long time for the simple fact that she was nearly immobile, but she was determined and sure enough she eventually finished by putting on her pink dressing gown. Cherry then wiped away her tears, but soon even more fell, so Cherry knew it was pointless, she just hoped that Shannon would still be there for her because she really needed him.

Cherry glanced at her watch and saw that it was midnight. She was incredibly shocked, but she just thought that perhaps she had lost track of time during the horrific beating that she had received. She hoped Shannon would still be awake, and even if he wasn't, she hoped that he wouldn't mind her coming to see him at this time of night. However, Cherry knew she had to, because she knew that Shannon's room was the only place she felt safe, so with that thought, she staggered quietly out of the room, gasping in pain occasionally and towards the only place she felt safe; Shannon's room.

* * *

**So what did you think?**

**I'll update soon, so I'll see you then!**


	6. Comfort At Last

**Hi! This the new chapter of my Shannon and Cherry story!**

**I'm really enjoying writing this story so I hope you're enjoying reading it!**

**Thank you to everyone who had read and reviewed it!**

**Anyway! Enjoy!**

* * *

**~ CHAPTER SIX ~**

**COMFORT AT LAST**

Cherry was absolutely shattered physically, emotionally and mentally when she finally got to the door to Shannon's room. Normally the walk to Shannon's room would have been easy for Cherry to manage, but tonight, because of the beating she had received, the walk felt like pure torture that would never end and with each step became more and more heartbreaking and painful.

After what felt like an eternity, Cherry finally found herself outside Shannon's hotel room door. She was breathless and tearful and the pain had now become so intense that she could barely stand it. Cherry felt like she had no strength left, like she couldn't cope with her life anymore. Cherry's veneer that she had worked so hard to maintain throughout her relationship with Deuce was now slipping at an unbelievable rate and the only person who could save her was Shannon.

Even though Cherry felt she had no strength left, she took a deep, shuddering breath and knocked softly but urgently on Shannon's door. She waited about thirty seconds but she received no answer. Cherry immediately felt the tears build up in her eyes again as she thought that perhaps Shannon didn't want to know her anymore. Her bottom lip was trembling, but Cherry thought that she had to try one more time, because she really needed Shannon. All Cherry wanted was for Shannon to tell her that everything would be all right, she didn't want him to tell her he would protect her, because Cherry thought that would be too dangerous for him, she just wanted him to comfort her and she hoped he would.

With that thought, Cherry wished as hard as she could that Shannon would answer the door this time, and she took a deep breath before knocking, a little bit louder this time. At first Cherry received no answer again, but then she heard movement inside Shannon's room, making her hope rise a little bit. Then the door opened very slowly, much to Cherry's relief, revealing Shannon, who looked rather dishevelled and very upset. Shannon looked up and gasped in shock when he saw Cherry in her current state.

"Cherry?" he whispered in alarm "honey, what?...oh my…what happened?"

"I-It w-w-was h-horrible Shannon!" stammered Cherry, through tears "h-he…h-he…I l-lost m-my m-m-match and h-he m-made m-me p-pay!"

"Oh Cherry!" whispered Shannon "come on, come in! I'll look after you, he's never going to hurt you again, and I'll look after you!"

Cherry tried to take a step forward, but she lost her balance because of the pain, and she fell. Shannon sprang into action and he was able to lift Cherry securely up into his arms before she hit the floor. Shannon stood up, still with Cherry in his arms, being very careful not to hurt her further and walked over to the bed. Cherry, who now sensed that she was safe, let the hold she had on her emotions drop, and she began to sob in a heartbreaking fashion into Shannon's chest.

"Shh it's all right Cherry, you're safe now!" said Shannon in a soothing voice, as he stroked her hair after he had sat down.

"I…Shannon…I-I'm s-s-sorry!" sobbed Cherry.

"What are apologising for Cherry?" asked Shannon gently "none of this is your fault I promise!"

"I-I'm s-s-sorry f-for w-what y-you h-had t-t-to h-hear e-earlier!" whispered Cherry "y-you sh-shouldn't h-have h-head th-that!"

"I know I shouldn't!" said Shannon, who fought the tears that threatened to fall as the memories came back to him with a vengeance "but if I hadn't I never would have found out about what Deuce was doing to you, and then I wouldn't have been able to help you now, so really if I hadn't have found out then things would have been worse wouldn't they?"

Cherry nodded as she still sobbed hysterically,

"I w-wish I w-would h-have t-told y-you e-earlier Shannon!" said Cherry through tears "m-maybe th-then I c-could h-have s-saved m-myself f-from s-s-some of th-the p-pain!"

"The important thing is though that your safe now Cherry, all right?" said Shannon, looking into Cherry's eyes.

"Y-Yeah I g-guess!" sobbed Cherry "it's j-just th-that h-he's d-d-done s-s-so m-much t-to m-me, I d-don't th-think I'll e-ever g-get o-over it! H-He's h-hit m-me, h-he v-verbally a-abused m-me a-and th-then w-well y-you k-know w-what e-else h-he's d-done!"

"Yeah I do!" said Shannon sympathetically "and that is by far the worst thing that he could ever do to you, I mean everything else is bad enough but that…that is just pure hellacious evil!"

"I-It h-hurt s-so m-much!" cried Cherry "e-everything d-did!"

"I know Cherry," said Shannon "but all the pain is over now, I promise you. He's not going to hurt you again!"

"P-Promise?" asked Cherry, desperately seeking reassurance.

"I swear to you!" replied Shannon truthfully.

"Th-Thank y-you!" whispered Cherry "f-for e-everything!"

"It's all right!" said Shannon "what he's been doing to you is wrong on every level, so I'm not going to let it happen again!"

"B-But it's a-all m-m-my f-fault a-anyway!" sobbed Cherry "if I w-w-would h-have b-been g-good th-then h-he w-wouldn't h-have d-done it!"

"Cherry!" pleaded Shannon, as he held her closer to him "don't say that!"

"W-Why n-not?" asked Cherry "it's t-the t-truth, if I h-had b-been g-good it w-wouldn't h-have h-happened, s-s-so e-everything th-that h-happened is a-all m-my f-fault, b-because I c-couldn't b-behave m-myself, b-because I d-disobeyed h-him!"

"Cherry, those are Deuce's words, not yours!" said Shannon "listen to me, none of what has happened to you is your fault, it's Deuce's fault and it will always be that way, it'll never be your fault!"

"Th-then w-why d-did it h-h-happen?" asked Cherry, through tears "w-what d-did I d-do w-wrong?"

"You didn't do anything!" said Shannon gently "I promise, the reason all this happened is because Deuce is a sick person who thinks he can use and abuse innocent and beautiful women!"

"B-But w-why m-me?" asked Cherry.

"I don't know!" said Shannon slowly "maybe it's the fact that he was your first boyfriend so he knew you had no idea what to expect so he could take advantage of you easier!"

"I s-should h-have b-been a-able t-to p-protect m-myself!" said Cherry as she wept quietly.

"There was nothing you could have done Cherry!" said Shannon, holding her close again "it sounds like he had you wrapped around his little finger and you couldn't escape, so really you couldn't have done anything. You've done the right thing by coming to me though so that I can help you!"

"N-No!" sobbed Cherry in alarm "it'll b-be t-too d-dangerous f-for y-you if y-you h-help m-me!"

"Why will it?" asked Shannon.

"B-Because h-he c-c-could h-hurt y-you!" sobbed Cherry "I'd n-never b-be a-able t-to l-live w-w-with m-myself if th-that h-happened!"

"Cherry you don't need to worry about me!" said Shannon, trying to reassure her "I'll be fine, I can look after myself and you, and I'm going to do that!"

"I…I…I…Shannon," said Cherry "th-thank y-you!"

"Hey it's all right!" said Shannon, running his hand through Cherry's hair "I'm not going to leave you when you need me most!"

"I r-really d-don't d-deserve a f-friend l-like y-you!" said Cherry, as her tears started to subside.

"Yes you do!" said Shannon "Cherry you are the most lovely, kind, sweet, genuine and beautiful person I've ever had the fortune to meet!"

"N-No I'm n-not!" said Cherry, still stammering with tears every so often "I'm a-an idiot, u-ugly, u-useless a-and s-stupid!"

"Cherry don't say that, it's not true!" said Shannon in a soothing voice.

"It is!" said Cherry unhappily "I'm s-so u-useless and u-ugly it's u-unbelievable! I h-hate m-myself!"

"Cherry, you shouldn't hate yourself!" said Shannon desperately, feeling close to tears.

"Why not?" asked Cherry, as she continued to sob, with slightly less intensity than before "I'm s-stupid, u-ugly and u-useless, th-there's nothing a-about m-me t-to l-like!"

"Cherry everything about you is awesome and anyone who doesn't like you, or tries to convince you you're worthless is stupid!" said Shannon, meaning every word with all his heart.

"B-But Deuce s-says I'm w-worthless!" said Cherry quietly, as she continued to cry "so it m-must b-be t-true!"

"Cherry listen to me," said Shannon gently "Deuce is an evil person. He had you wrapped around his little finger, and he abused you mentally as well as physically. I think he made you feel like you were worthless and that no one else would want you so he could control you because he realised how awesome you were and he was scared of losing you. Everything he told you about you being worthless was used to control you, none of it was true!"

"R-Really?" asked Cherry, as Shannon wiped some of her tears away.

"Yes," said Shannon "and just for the record the truth about you is that you are lovely, awesome, intelligent, sweet, caring, funny, unique but most of all you are so beautiful Cherry it's almost scary!"

"Y-You think I'm b-beautiful?" stammered Cherry, who had now stopped crying, but was still stuttering in shock.

"Of course I do!" said Shannon truthfully "and you're not just beautiful on the outside, you're beautiful on the inside too, which is the most important thing in the entire world!"

"Thank you Shannon!" said Cherry, managing a weak smile "thank you for everything. For being there for me over the last week, for being such a great friend, for accepting me as me, but most importantly, thank you for accepting me as a friend even after you found out about Deuce and what he was doing to me, you have no idea how much your friendship means to me! It really does mean the world, because you are the first person who was brave enough to ask me what was going on!"

"It's not a problem!" said Shannon, smiling "I wasn't going to leave you when I had suspicions about what was happening, and I will always be here for you, I promise you!"

Cherry smiled a more confident smile, and wrapped her arms around Shannon, hugging him close to her. Shannon responded by hugging Cherry back and smiling before saying,

"Do you want me to have a look at that black eye Cherry?"

"Only if it won't be too much trouble!" said Cherry.

"It won't be any trouble Cherry!" said Shannon "let me just get my first aid kit!"

Cherry nodded and then Shannon lifted her from his lap, and put her down on the bed before getting up, retrieving the first aid kit from his wardrobe and going to sit down next to Cherry. Shannon got some cotton wool and some cream out of the first aid kit and explained,

"This is a special cream that I buy regularly that gets rid of bruises instantly; it's amazing and really useful when you're a wrestler. I'm just going dab it onto your eye, it might sting but don't worry, because the pain won't last long and I'll be here anyway, is that all right?"

"Yeah," said Cherry "I've used this stuff before, so I know what it's like!"

"OK then," said Shannon "at least you're prepared for it then!"

"Yeah, I guess!" said Cherry, who seemed to still sound quite apprehensive.

"What's wrong Cherry?" asked Shannon in a voice that oozed genuine worry and concern.

"Just worried about it," said Cherry "it sounds pathetic, but I don't know if I can cope with much more pain!"

"I know Cherry, but it'll be all right, I'm here and I'll look after you!" said Shannon "and I promise it won't hurt that much, if at all, so you'll be fine!"

"Shannon, I'm sorry," said Cherry "and this is going to sound so pathetic, but can I hold your hand while you're putting the cream on my eye please?"

"Course you can!" said Shannon "and you're not pathetic!"

Cherry smiled as Shannon grasped her hand and started to gently apply the cream to Cherry's bruised eye. The feeling of the cream on her injured skin did cause Cherry to feel a stinging sensation. However, this was not intense and she was able to cope with it, partly because she was able to squeeze Shannon's hand as tightly as she wanted to.

After a couple of minutes Cherry's bruise around her eye had disappeared and Shannon handed her a mirror so that she could see, before asking,

"Are you all right Cherry?"

"Yeah, thanks Shannon, I'm fine!" said Cherry smiling "I'm a little bit tired though, I've had a rough day!"

At that statement Cherry looked down, almost in shame, and Shannon, sensing how she felt, gently guided her chin up so that she was looking him directly in the eye and said softly,

"Yeah I know you have, but you'll be fine, you're a fighter and you'll get through it one way or another!"

"I know I will!" said Cherry "especially with you by my side!"

"Exactly!" said Shannon "you know what? Me and you make a great team!"

"Yeah we do!" said Cherry, smiling "I couldn't have got through tonight without you Shannon!"

"I wouldn't have got through tonight without seeing you," said Shannon "after what happened earlier I just had to see you to make sure you were all right so that I could relax. I was so worried about you, I just…wow…thanks Cherry for coming to see me so I at least know you're all right?"

"I only wanted to come to see you!" said Cherry truthfully "the walk here was so painful, but I just kept thinking about you, and how I needed you to give me a hug and how I just needed to see you and that made me carry on!"

"Wow!" said Shannon in awe.

"So thank you for just being there for me, and for giving me a hug and for just telling me you'll always be there!" said Cherry "it means the world!"

"It's not a problem!" said Shannon "and by the way Cherry, thank you to you too!"

"What?" asked Cherry, genuinely confused "what have I done that's so fantastic?"

"You accepted me for who I am, you're not trying to change me, and you're just amazing and so genuinely nice. Before you came to the WWE, no one would even talk to me because they thought I was weird but you just accepted me for who I was from the start, so thank you for that!"

"It's not a problem!" said Cherry "you are one of the nicest people I have ever met in my life!"

Shannon smiled warmly, before noticing that Cherry yawned.

"You need to sleep Cherry!" he said, matter-of-factly.

"Yeah you're right," said Cherry, as Shannon yawned too "so do you by the looks of it! But I don't know where I'm going to sleep! I'm not going back to Deuce's room. I could sleep in my room, but after what Deuce has done I'm scared of being alone, so I don't know what I'm going to do!"

"You could always stay here you know!" said Shannon.

"Oh Shannon, I wouldn't want to be a burden or anything!" said Cherry.

"You wouldn't be, trust me!" said Shannon "it would be nice to have the company and I'll be happy because at least I'll know you're safe with me!"

"And you wouldn't mind?" asked Cherry.

"Of course not!" said Shannon "so do you want to sleep in here tonight, and any night in the future if you want?"

"Yes please," said Cherry, smiling shyly "thank you!"

"Hey don't worry about it!" said Shannon, as Cherry discarded her dressing gown and slippers.

With that, Shannon and Cherry climbed into Shannon's bed together, both slightly nervous at first, but then Shannon unconsciously wrapped his arms around Cherry, pulling her closer to him. Cherry smiled as she felt completely safe, and she turned to lie on her other side so she was facing Shannon, who smiled warmly at her.

"By the way Shannon," said Cherry "what did you think of my match?"

"It was absolutely awesome!" said Shannon softly; as he hugged Cherry tightly "your top rope huracanrana was amazing. I told you you're an amazing wrestler, and for the record, you looked beautiful in your outfit, but then again, you're always beautiful, so that's not really surprising!"

"Thank you!" said Cherry, smiling "you don't know how much those comments mean!"

"They're the truth!" said Shannon.

"Well thank you anyway!" said Cherry, before yawning.

"Go to sleep Cherry, honey!" whispered Shannon "you've had a rough day you really need to sleep. Just remember that you're safe with me, all right? I'm not going to let anything happen to you because you're too important to me. So, go to sleep and have sweet dreams and just remember you're safe, and if you do have a nightmare, just wake me up and I'll help you!"

Shannon received no answer from Cherry, and he instinctively started to worry, as he looked down towards his best friend. However, all Shannon saw was Cherry, who was fast asleep, with a small smile on her face, in his arms. Shannon smiled at the fact that Cherry looked so peaceful and now seemed happy. Shannon was glad she was finally with him, and it was that final thought of Cherry that sent him off into a peaceful sleep, as he held Cherry protectively in his arms.

* * *

**So what did you think?**

**Let me know and I'll update soon!**


	7. Promises And Protection

**Hey everyone! Wow it's been ages since I updated! Sorry about that by the way, but I've been really busy with revision and exams and it's took me ages to write this chapter! **

**I should warn you that this chapter is long, but hopefully you'll like it! **

**Let me know what you think!**

**Enjoy!**

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**~ CHAPTER SEVEN ~**

**PROMISES AND PROTECTION**

The next morning Cherry woke up suddenly, immediately feeling scared and vulnerable as she felt a pair of arms wrapped around her. She thought it was Deuce and was convinced that she was immediately going to get punished for waking up before him, in such a startled fashion that she was trembling. Just as Cherry let the fear overtake her at an unprecedented rate, she heard a soft voice that did not sound at all like Deuce's say,

"Cherry, are you all right?"

Cherry immediately recognised that the voice belonged to Shannon and her fear eased considerably as the memories of her talk with Shannon the night before, came flooding back. Cherry sighed in relief as she adjusted her position so that she was facing Shannon, who smiled warmly at her, and squeezed her tightly, as Cherry wrapped her arms around him too.

"Are you all right?" he repeated tenderly, as he looked into Cherry's eyes with a genuinely concerned expression on his face.

"I'm fine," said Cherry smiling "why?"

"It's just I felt you jump when you woke up and you're trembling!" said Shannon "are you sure you're all right?"

"I…I…" began Cherry, as she trembled even more.

"What is it sweetheart?" asked Shannon gently, as he genuinely wanted to find out what was wrong and help Cherry.

"Don't hate me!" whispered Cherry nervously.

"Never!" whispered Shannon smiling.

"Well I woke up and I was just scared because I thought I was in Deuce's room, and that I was going to get punished!" said Cherry's truthfully, as she trembled even more violently than before "please don't hate me!"

"Cherry," said Shannon in a reassuring voice "I'm not going to hate you because of that! It's understandable that you thought I was Deuce, because you probably didn't remember our talk last night until you heard me speak, so it was a natural reaction! Don't worry about it!"

"Really?" asked Cherry, as her trembling calmed down a little bit.

"I promise!" replied Shannon, smiling happily.

"Thank you!" whispered Cherry smiling, as Shannon hugged her close to his chest.

"Cherry, you do know I'm going to protect you now don't you?" asked Shannon "no matter what you say!"

"Shannon, you don't have to!" said Cherry "I don't want to cause you any trouble!"

"OK Cherry two things," said Shannon, running a hand through her hair, "first of all, protecting you isn't going to be any trouble. Secondly, I do have to protect you, and I want to protect you too, because what Deuce has been doing to you is wrong, and I want to make it stop!"

"How?" asked Cherry.

"You need to break up with him honey!" said Shannon.

"I can't!" whispered Cherry.

"Why not?" asked Shannon gently.

"Because he's too clever, and that won't stop him anyway!" said Cherry in an almost hysterical voice "I know that when I try to break up with him he'll talk me round, promising never to do it again, and then I'll go back to him and he'll do it again and again. I can't escape Shannon! I want to but I can't, he won't let me!"

"Hey, shh, shh," whispered Shannon soothingly, as he wiped a stray tear away from Cherry's cheek "it'll be fine, he won't be able to talk you round this time, he's done too much to you, and if you want, I'll be there when you do break up with him!"

"Really?" asked Cherry out of disbelief as she realised Shannon was serious, no one had ever done anything that sweet for her before "oh thank you Shannon, I don't know what I would do without you!"

"Just promise me you'll do it soon!" said Shannon "I can't bear to see you treated this way!"

"I'll have to get myself mentally ready for it, but I will do it soon!" said Cherry "but at the moment, I'm going to have to act like everything's normal, so he doesn't realise that you know what's happening!"

"That's the part I hate the most!" said Shannon in a voice close to tears "the thought that he's still going to be hurting you!"

"I'll still come and see you though, because you're going to be the one that gets me through this until I break up with him!" said Cherry, who sounded incredibly scared.

"Make sure you do!" said Shannon firmly "I'm going to be a nervous wreck, so if I see you and know you're OK, then that might help to ease the pain a little bit!"

Cherry and Shannon lay in a comfortable silence for a couple of minutes before Cherry said in a small voice,

"I'm scared!"

"I know honey," said Shannon, in what he hoped sounded like a strong voice "I'm scared too, the thought of leaving you with that monster terrifies me, and I wish I could just keep you with me, but like you said, Deuce will suspect something if we're together all the time. But I can promise you this, I'll do everything I can to protect you, even if it's just letting you stay here every night, even if it's just hugging you or even if it's just lying so I can get you away from him I'll do it!"

"Shannon, I can't do this!" said Cherry in a panicked voice "I can't pretend like everything between me and Deuce is normal when I know you know! He's going to suspect something I just know it and then I'll be in big trouble, and then you'll be in trouble and then everything will go wrong, and then he'll hurt us, and then…"

"Cherry!" interrupted Shannon in a firm but soothing voice "don't think about that! Everything is going to be fine I promise. You've perfected a veneer that the rest of the world sees and they know nothing about you and Deuce, so just put that veneer back on, like before you met me, and Deuce won't suspect a thing!"

"If my veneer was so good that no one could see through it then why did you?" asked Cherry.

"Because I cared enough to look!" said Shannon simply "I could tell from the moment I met you that you were hiding something, so I decided to try and explore that, and I'm glad I did because I can help you!"

"I'm glad you did too!" said Cherry, smiling "do you really think I can do it?"

"I _know_ you can do it Cherry!" said Shannon "because you know that when you've held that veneer up all day, you can come to me and let that veneer slip, and cry and just be yourself, like you want to! And that'll get through the day, I know it will!"

"Yeah, you're right!" whispered Cherry "I'm still terrified though!"

"I know honey, but I'll be there to make those fears go away!" said Shannon truthfully.

"Thank you!" said Cherry sincerely.

"It's no problem," said Shannon smiling "I'll also be there to make your tears go away, to lie for you, to give you a hug, to protect you, to talk to you, to sit with you for hours, to heal your injuries, to cheer you on when you wrestle, and if you needed me to, I'll be there to die for you too! I make these promises to you with all my heart and I'll always do my best to uphold them, honestly, any time of day or night that you need I'll be there!"

"Shannon, that's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me!" said Cherry, in a genuinely shocked voice.

"Well I'm glad I said it then!" said Shannon grinning.

Cherry smiled before saying,

"Oh my, look at the time, I'm going to be in trouble with Deuce!"

"No you won't be!" said Shannon, although he didn't believe those words himself.

"Yes I will, if I'm not there when he wakes up he'll hit me!" whispered Cherry.

"Cherry it's only eight o'clock!" said Shannon "we woke up really early!"

"You don't understand!" said Cherry "Deuce wakes up at half six on the dot every single morning!"

"OK then," said Shannon, suddenly realising the magnitude of the situation "I'll take you back to his room!"

"I'm sorry!" said Cherry "I don't want to go back, I have to! If he finds me with you he'll be so unbelievably angry I'll probably get killed or something!"

"I know, it just breaks my heart to know you're going to be at his mercy!" said Shannon, in a tearful voice.

"I know it hurts you and that's what I'm most sorry for," said Cherry, as tears started to fall down her cheeks "I just…I just wish it didn't have to be this way!"

"Me too!" said Shannon.

A couple of minutes of comfortable silence followed before there was a sharp knock on the door, which made Cherry jump, and then Deuce's voice yelled angrily,

"Open up Moore now, before I knock this door down!"

The look of fear in Cherry's eyes must have alarmed Shannon tremendously as he embraced her in his arms for a second before mouthing quickly,

"Get under the bed, he won't find you there! Be as quiet as possible and I'll try and get rid of him!"

"Thank you!" breathed Cherry as she crawled under the bed, and let the sheet fall in front of her, so she was hidden.

"Moore, you'd better open this door in the next ten seconds or I swear I'm going to break it down!" bellowed Deuce viciously.

"All right, all right I'm coming!" called Shannon, in what he hoped was a voice that made him sound tired "don't you dare break my door down!"

Shannon opened his dressing room door and came face to face with a livid looking Deuce, who was breathing heavily and had fire in his eyes. Before Shannon could say anything, Deuce pushed past him, shoving him hard against the wall.

"Where is she?" growled Deuce.

"Who?" asked Shannon.

"My girlfriend!" shouted Deuce.

"Why would I know where she is?" asked Shannon.

"Because I've seen the way you look at her!" growled Deuce "I wouldn't be surprised if you've made a move on her already, so where is she?"

"I don't know!" said Shannon angrily "don't ask me! I don't see her, she's with you twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, so I never see her, so how would I know where she is? And how could I possibly make a move on her?"

"You're lying to me!" breathed Deuce in a dangerous voice "you're protecting her, I know you are, she's in here!"

With that, Deuce stormed around Shannon's room, looking for Cherry, much to Shannon's horror and annoyance. He looked behind the curtains, in the wardrobe, as well as in the bathroom, but much to Shannon's relief he didn't find Cherry.

"She's in here somewhere!" snarled Deuce.

"You've looked everywhere and haven't found her, so wouldn't that prove that she's not here?" asked Shannon in an annoyed voice "and now you know that, you can get out of my room!"

"I know you had something to do with her disappearance!" said Deuce angrily "Cherry doesn't just disappear, she knows I don't like it when she does!"

"Mmmhmm," said Shannon, who had to use all of his self restraint to not hit Deuce at that point "well just so you know, the other day Cherry was in the gym, and I happened to be in there too, she was on the exercise bikes I was on the weights and Vince came in to see her, and I heard him saying that he wanted to have a big meeting with her today about a new storyline for her or something. Vince said it would last from six to six, so that's probably why you can't find her! Now if that's all you want, I suggest you get out before I flatten you!"

Deuce growled dangerously, but left anyway. However Shannon still was not sure whether Deuce had gone or not, so he crept across the room and looked through the peephole in the door, to see Deuce still stood outside the door, looking livid.

Shannon opened the door to face Deuce. Shannon was not intimidated by Deuce in the slightest so he said confidently,

"You have no business being here anymore Deuce so I suggest you leave now before I call security on you!"

"Ooh I'm so scared!" mocked Deuce.

"Just go!" said Shannon as calmly as he could "you've done enough today, you've woken me up and put me in a bad mood, so go!"

Deuce stared at Shannon for a few seconds, but Shannon stared right back not intimidated at all. Eventually, Deuce backed down and walked away from Shannon's room. Shannon waited a couple of seconds just to make sure that Deuce really was going away, but once he was sure he closed the door to his room, and knelt down on the floor next to the bed and he lifted the sheet to find Cherry.

Cherry now had tears falling thick and fast from her eyes and down her cheeks. Shannon realised that Deuce being in the room had obviously terrified her, and this at the time, had been the only way she could deal with the fear that she felt.

"Oh Cherry," said Shannon tenderly "it's all right, it's over now, he's gone!"

Shannon then helped Cherry to get out from under the bed and then he lifted her into his arms, and clambered onto the bed. As Shannon held Cherry in his arms he managed to lay them both against the pillows and wrap the duvet around them both, while he still hugged her close to him.

"Shh Cherry," he whispered, as he ran his hand up and down her back trying desperately to soothe her "it's over, you're all right, he's gone!"

"I w-was s-s-so s-scared Shannon," sobbed Cherry "I…I thought h-he w-was g-going t-t-to f-find m-m-me!"

"Well he didn't," whispered Shannon "and if he had and he hurt you I would have killed him!"

"Thank y-you f-for l-lying f-f-for m-me!" cried Cherry.

"No problem!" said Shannon "I know I haven't got you completely out of trouble, but hopefully it's helped to calm him down a bit, so he won't hurt you so much!"

"I'm not sure that'll be the case, but we can hope!" said Cherry, as her tears subsided.

"Exactly!" said Shannon "but Cherry, I want you to promise me something!"

"What?" asked Cherry.

"I want you to promise you'll come and see me tonight, just so I know you're all right!" said Shannon, desperately seeking reassurance.

"I will!" assured Cherry "I promise!"

"Good!" said Shannon, sighing with relief "and if you can't physically get to me for any reason, just try and get outside the room and ring me and I'll come and get you!"

"Thank you!" said Cherry.

"I just want to make sure you're safe!" said Shannon truthfully "and I will do anything to ensure that you are!"

"Wow, that's a first!" said Cherry "you're the first person to care about my safety, and to want to help me! Nobody else has ever cared as much as you do!"

"Well then, they're idiots aren't they?" said Shannon.

"Yeah," said Cherry "you know what Shannon, I'm really glad I met you! Without you, I never would have been able to get through this or find the courage that I have found so that I can break up with Deuce!"

"You would have eventually Cherry!" said Shannon "I know it because you are a strong person, I know you are, Deuce just took that strength away!"

"I wouldn't, trust me!" said Cherry "he can talk me round so easily, so he would have just kept doing that and I would have kept going back to him letting him carry on doing what he was doing until he killed me! But then I met you and I don't know what it was about you but something made me open up to you, and made me realise that I deserved better. You gave me so much courage Shannon and made me realise that my life was worth living!"

"Wow Cherry, that's…that's amazing!" whispered Shannon.

"That's how I feel!" said Cherry truthfully.

"Well for the record Cherry, I'm really glad I met you too!" said Shannon, in a genuinely happy voice "before I met you, no one else in the WWE liked me at all, they all thought I was a freak, so they avoided me unless they had a match with me, but now I have you. You're my best friend and you give me so much strength. Before I met you I had no reason to live, no reason to get up in the morning, but now I do, so thank you Cherry! Your friendship means more to me than you'll ever know!"

"Wow Shannon, that was…beautiful!" whispered Cherry.

"Well sometimes the truth is beautiful, especially when you have beauty to inspire you!" said Shannon wistfully.

"That's so poetic!" sighed Cherry "I wish I had the poetic talent you do!"

"I bet you do!" said Shannon smiling "I bet that's a hidden talent of yours!"

"No it's not, it really isn't!" said Cherry "but then again, I've never really tried to write poems so I don't really know for sure!"

"OK then," said Shannon "well I think you should try. Next time Deuce abuses you or hurts you, try writing a poem about your feelings. That might seem a bit weird, but sometimes it helps to write your feelings down, you don't need to show anyone, I'm just saying, try it, it may help you!"

"I'll remember that!" said Cherry "it might come in handy!"

Shannon smiled and a couple of minutes of comfortable silence followed between the two friends before Shannon said,

"So what do you want to do today Cherry? We have the whole day together so what do you want to do?"

"Can we watch a film and eat ice cream again?" asked Cherry innocently.

"Course we can!" said Shannon, smiling "I'll order double chocolate chip ice cream, popcorn, candyfloss, coke, chocolate bars, cookies and muffins!"

"Yay!" said Cherry in an excited voice "don't forget the bendy straws Shannon!"

"How could I?" sighed Shannon "I know you love them!"

Cherry giggled while Shannon rang room service and ordered everything that he and Cherry wanted. Then he walked over to the numerous shelves of DVDs in his room and said,

"What do you want to watch then Cherry?"  
"I don't know, you have so many DVDs, it's difficult to choose!"

"Tell me about it!" laughed Shannon "well do you have any idea which type of film you want to watch?"

"Comedy I think," said Cherry "or horror, or action, or romance!"

"That doesn't narrow it down at all then!" said Shannon smiling.

"I know, I'm sorry Shannon!" said Cherry, suddenly nervous as she remembered how Deuce had almost given her a concussion once when she could not decide which film she wanted to watch "what about Transformers?"

"Sounds great to me!" said Shannon, taking the DVD off the shelf, and putting it in the player, deciding to wait until the food came to press play.

Shannon turned around after putting the DVD in the player, only to find Cherry watching him with a terrified expression on his face. Shannon walked slowly over to Cherry, and sat down in the bed next to her. He tried to wrap his arm around her, but she flinched away from him before he could get anywhere near her,

"What's wrong Cherry, honey?" asked Shannon gently.

"Don't hurt me Shannon, please don't hurt me!" said Cherry in a genuinely very scared voice.

"Cherry," said Shannon tenderly "I'm not going to hurt you, I would never ever hurt you, I promise. Why do you think I'm going to hurt you?"

"Because I couldn't choose the DVD that I wanted to watch!" said Cherry in a small, terrified voice "please don't hurt me Shannon I'm sorry!"

"Cherry, I'm not going to hurt you, I promise!" said Shannon truthfully "I would never ever hurt you, I care about you too much! What made you think I was going to hurt you? Has Deuce hurt you before because of this? Is that why?"

"Yes!" whispered Cherry in an ashamed voice, as she looked down.

"Oh Cherry, you poor thing!" said Shannon sympathetically "well I can promise you that I'm not going to hurt you, OK? Please believe me, because this is the truth! Please let me make the pain from what Deuce did to you better, all I want to do is give you a hug, and I know you like hugs!"

"Yeah I do!" said Cherry, managing a weak smile "I'm sorry Shannon!"

"It's all right!" said Shannon "it's understandable that you were scared if Deuce has attacked you before because you couldn't choose a DVD, but for the record, your indecisive nature is one of the things I find most endearing about you! Can I have a hug now? Now I said I was going to give you one, I want a hug, I swear I'm suffering from hug withdrawal symptoms, look I'm shaking! So can I have a hug to cure me?"

"Of course you can!" said Cherry, who was now giggling hysterically as Shannon pretended to tremble violently from lack of hugs.

Shannon grinned and moved quickly over to Cherry and embraced her in a tight, protective hug, while she did the same to him. The hug lasted about a minute before Shannon began to tickle Cherry relentlessly, causing her giggling to develop into full-blown hysterical laughter. Cherry was now full of joy and capitalised on this to start tickling Shannon back with equal force, and for the next few minutes the two friends were lost in their little world of laughter before they were interrupted by a women's voice outside the door call,

"Room service!"

"Looks like I can't tickle you anymore Cherry!" said Shannon grinning mischievously "oh well we'll finish this one day!"

After climbing off the bed and putting on his dressing gown, Shannon went to the door, making sure he checked through the peephole that it actually was room service. When he was sure, Shannon opened the door and took all the snacks off the women, before closing the door and taking them back over to Cherry.

Shannon clambered into the bed next to Cherry, and pressed play on the remote before both of the friends tucked into the numerous amounts of snacks.

During the film, Shannon and Cherry laughed at the exact same places and when Cherry got scared or upset, Shannon would put his arm around her and hug her, and all of her fears and tears would disappear almost instantly. Between the two of them Shannon and Cherry ate all of the snacks, and through this day together were simply able to relax on their day off and forget all of their cares in the world.

After the film, Shannon and Cherry still had a couple more hours together before Shannon unfortunately had to take Cherry back to Deuce. To pass this time, they just talked about everything from life, to love, to wrestling, everything that made these two friends themselves was discussed.

By the time they had finished talking it was four o'clock and Cherry said,

"I need to go and get dressed Shannon, or Deuce won't believe that I went to that meeting!"

"OK Cherry honey, how long will you be?" asked Shannon.

"Can you come with me?" asked Cherry, in a shy voice "like just to sit in my room while I get dressed in the bathroom? It would make me so much more confident knowing that you were there!"

"Sure thing!" said Shannon "if that's what you want! Just let me get dressed first!"

Cherry nodded and with that as confirmation, both of the friends climbed out of the bed, put on their dressing gowns. Cherry sat on Shannon's bed while Shannon went into the bathroom to change into his clothes. He came back out in ten minutes and he was wearing loose fitting faded blue jeans and a black shirt with Celtic symbols on it. His hair had been brushed so that it felt just past his neck as usual and he also sported various sweatbands and a necklace with dog tags attached to it. Cherry thought he looked very handsome and she instantly felt safe with him when he embraced her in his arms for no apparent reason and she could smell his aftershave. She knew that she would soon be able to escape Deuce.

"Right you stay there for a sec," said Shannon "I'll go and check if it's safe for us to go to your room. I'm sure it is, it's just to check if Deuce is there, because I know you don't want to meet him do you?"

"All right then," said Cherry "thanks Shannon!"

Shannon smiled, then looked through the peephole and to his relief, he saw that the corridor was clear. He beckoned to Cherry, who walked over to him, then Shannon put his arm around her and they both walked out of Shannon's room and into Cherry's within a matter of seconds.

"OK Shannon, I won't be long," said Cherry, grabbing some clothes out of her suitcase "make yourself at home!"

"Yes ma'am!" said Shannon, grinning as he winked at Cherry, and gave her a mock salute.

Cherry beamed and giggled, as Shannon blew her kisses from his current position of lying sprawled out on her bed. Cherry didn't know why Shannon was doing this, but if she was honest with herself, she loved the positive attention he gave her. It made her feel special.

Lost in her thoughts Cherry walked into the bathroom, got dressed, made herself up, and did her hair. Perhaps unconsciously, she seemed to take more time than usual to do so, maybe because she hoped Shannon would notice.

About half an hour later, Cherry walked out of the bathroom to find Shannon still lying on her bed. Cherry crept towards him, only to find that he was fast asleep. Cherry smiled to herself, Shannon looked so cute when he was sleeping, that Cherry almost wanted to curl up next to him and go to sleep herself. However, when she glanced at her watch, she saw that it was about twenty to five, so unfortunately she knew this was not possible.

Instead Cherry simply ran her hand through Shannon's hair, ruffling it slightly. She smiled, but all of a sudden that smile was replaced with a look of utter horror as Shannon woke up, his eyes wide and his expression terrified.

As soon as Shannon saw Cherry his expression softened, and he instantly relaxed, but it was too late, Cherry had recoiled away from him in fear, thinking she had made him angry.

"Cherry," said Shannon softly "it's all right, you just startled me, that's all!"

That did not soothe Cherry, who was now sat in a corner, hugging her knees, shaking relentlessly.

"I'm sorry Shannon!" she cried "P-Please d-don't h-hurt m-me!"

"Cherry…" began Shannon, who was lost for words.

"P-Please Shannon, I…I d-didn't m-mean it," said Cherry, who had now dissolved into full blown sobs "I d-didn't m-mean t-to w-wake y-you up!"

"Cherry…" said Shannon gently "it's ok, you just startled me, I'm not going to hurt you!"

"It's a-all r-right I k-know I h-have t-t-to h-hurt m-myself th-then!" said Cherry in a voice that broke Shannon's heart and made him panic all at the same time.

Then suddenly Cherry started to bang her fists against the walls with extreme force. Shannon panicked, but he quickly sprung into action, climbing off the bed and walking over to Cherry. Shannon knelt down next to her and said, in a voice that was close to tears,

"Cherry, stop it, you don't need to do this! This is not the answer!"

"B-But Shannon I m-made y-you angry s-so th-this is th-the o-only w-way t-to d-deal w-with it!" sobbed Cherry, as she continued to hit punch the wall.

"Cherry, stop!" pleaded Shannon, as tears fell from his eyes, he had never seen Cherry like this, and it was tearing him apart "please!"

When Cherry didn't stop, Shannon did the only thing that seemed to make sense at the time, he grabbed her arms and held them, to stop her hurting herself again. At first Cherry struggled against Shannon's grip, letting her natural defensive instincts take over. Shannon let her fight against him for a few seconds, she may have been strong, but he could easily hold her steady, then he said,

"Cherry, honey, listen to me! It's all right, you didn't make me angry, I would never ever be angry at you, and you just startled me!"

"I'm s-s-sorry!" sobbed Cherry "I d-didn't m-mean t-to, p-please d-d-don't h-hurt m-me!"

"I'm not going to hurt you Cherry I promise!" said Shannon, who was now trying so hard not to cry "you didn't do anything wrong!"

"Y-You're n-not g-going t-t-to d-do w-what h-he d-d-did th-then?" asked Cherry, desperately seeking reassurance.

"No, of course not!" whispered Shannon, as a tear fell from his eyes "I never would!"

"Th-thank y-you!" whispered Cherry, whose crying had become less hysterical, but was still very present "w-when I d-did th-that t-to h-him, h-he h-hit me s-so h-hard and h-he n-nearly b-broke m-my n-neck!"

"Cherry honey that's…" began Shannon, before wiping the tears away from his eyes "that's awful!"

"I'm s-sorry Shannon, I d-didn't m-mean it!" sobbed Cherry.

"Cherry listen," said Shannon patiently "all you did was startle me, all right? I understand why you were scared, but why did you start hurting yourself darling?"

"If D-Deuce c-couldn't b-be b-bothered t-to h-hurt m-me, h-he used t-t-to m-make m-me d-do it m-myself, s-so it c-comes n-naturally!" cried Cherry in shame.

"Well no matter what Deuce has told you, it's not the answer!" said Shannon, gently.

"I k-know!" said Cherry, who although she was crying a lot, seemed to Shannon to be holding back even more tears.

"It's all right Cherry," said Shannon "you can cry you know!"

"B-But w-what a-about g-getting b-back t-to Deuce?" asked Cherry.

"Well if I had my way you wouldn't be going back to him," said Shannon "but I'll tell you when we need to go, all right?"

This reassurance seemed to break Cherry's hold she had on her emotions and she started sobbing in such a hysterical fashion that her trembling actually worried Shannon, but he simply put his arms around her and held her close to his chest.

After a few minutes, Shannon transferred his hold on Cherry so that he was able to lift her into his arms. As he stood up he felt her tense in his arms, as if she was scared, so he simply whispered,

"Shh, it's all right, it's only me!"

This calmed Cherry down, but she was still sobbing, so Shannon carried her over to the bed and sat her down inside his lap, and held her tightly.

"Shh, Cherry, it's OK," he said "I'm here, you're safe now!"

Cherry cried for about half an hour, and during this time, all Shannon did was hold her tightly, and stroke her hair, letting her know that she was all right, and that he was always going to be there for her.

Cherry gradually stopped crying, but it was true to say that she was very shaken by the whole experience, and for that matter so was Shannon. However, Shannon still found the strength from somewhere in his heart and soul to support Cherry during this difficult time.

"Are you feeling any better now Cherry?" asked Shannon.

"I…I think so!" said Cherry quietly, although she did hesitate slightly.

"You sure?" said Shannon, holding Cherry closer to his chest.

"Yeah!" said Cherry in a more confident voice, as she wrapped her arms around Shannon "thank you and I'm sorry!"

"It's no problem!" said Shannon smiling "and you have nothing to be sorry about, so don't apologise!"

Cherry smiled and leant against Shannon's chest, immediately feeling safe in his arms and feeling happy that he was there for her.

"Oh by the way I have something to tell you!" she said, after a couple of minutes.

"What is it?" asked Shannon.

"Well you know what you said to Deuce about me having a meeting with Vince?" asked Cherry.

"Yeah?" said Shannon "what about it?"

"Well I actually did have a meeting with him the other day while Deuce was in training," said Cherry "he doesn't know yet, but this meeting was about a new storyline for me!"

"Oh wow!" said Shannon, smiling "so what's the storyline about?"

"That's what I needed to take to you about," said Cherry "Vince said that I was going to be put into a storyline with you and Deuce!"

"Really?" asked Shannon "that's great!"

"Yeah," said Cherry "well apparently the storyline is that I am Deuce's valet, and he keeps losing matches because I won't help him, so one day he hits me after he loses a match to you, and you confront him about it and take me away from him. Then you take it upon yourself to protect me, and Deuce keeps trying to get to me to hurt me, but you won't let him, and you keep protecting me, leading to a series of matches of which you and Deuce each win some. Then there's a final match in the series which you win and I become your valet!"

"Wow that sounds fantastic!" said Shannon "what do you think?"

"Yeah it does sound awesome but I'm not looking forward to having to work with Deuce after I've split up with him!" said Cherry "but Vince also said we could have basically free reign with this and if you wanted to intervene before you're supposed to then you can, because he said he knows you and Deuce don't like each other and that Deuce has a temper so if there can be genuine animosity then it'll make the storyline more believable!"

"That's good then," said Shannon, smiling "if we have free reign it means I can help you all the time when he hurts you!"

"Hey I'd never thought of it like that!" said Cherry "that's brilliant then!"

"Tell me about it!" said Shannon "Deuce can't stop us spending time together now!"

"Yeah I know!" said Cherry smiling "I haven't told him yet though, he's going to be angry!"

"Well there's nothing he can do!" said Shannon "Vince has said that this storyline will happen, so it will happen no matter what Deuce says!"

Cherry nodded and smiled before hugging Shannon even harder than before.

"Hey what's all this for?" asked Shannon "not that I'm complaining!"

"Just to say thank you to you, and because I'm happy that I have you in a storyline with me and you're going to look after me!" said Cherry, smiling.

"Well you're a great person Cherry and my best friend so of course I'm going to look after you!" said Shannon, holding her tightly "now unfortunately it's six o'clock, which is when your meeting is supposed to finish so you should probably get back to Deuce, although I don't want you to!"

"Yeah you're right," sighed Cherry regretfully, as she pulled away from Shannon "I don't want to go back to him either!"

"I know, but you can come and see me later," said Shannon "promise me you will!"

"I promise!" said Cherry.

"Good!" said Shannon, as he stood up before helping Cherry up.

"I'm so scared!" said Cherry unhappily.

"I know!" said Shannon, taking her hand and squeezing it "I'm scared too!"

Shannon walked with Cherry all the way along the corridors. Both friends walked at the slowest pace that they dared too, as they did not want this time to end. Shannon had his arm around Cherry's shoulders and was holding her hand, and Cherry had her arm around Shannon's waist, and they walked the whole way like this.

When they got to Deuce's room, Shannon and Cherry stopped and embraced each other tightly, fear and uncertainty taking over them both.

"I will definitely see you later?" breathed Shannon.

"Of course!" whispered Cherry "Deuce is going to be angry so I'm going to need you!"

"All right then!" murmured Shannon "well just try to be strong tonight, and you'll get through it, OK?"

"I hope so!" whispered Cherry, hugging Shannon again "I'll see you later!"

"Yeah see you later!" breathed Shannon, as he cuddled Cherry, and rocked her from side her side before spinning her around.

Cherry smiled warmly as Shannon started to walk away. Before Shannon turned a corner, he looked back to see Cherry entering Deuce's room, and he felt the nervous feeling in his stomach increase tremendously.

* * *

**So that's chapter 7, what did you think? Let me know!**

**I'll update soon so I'll see you then!**


	8. Dealing With The Punishment

**Hey! I'm back! This is the next chapter of my story! Sorry about the wait!**

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story, I really appreciate your nice comments! Keep the reviews coming!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**~ CHAPTER EIGHT ~**

**DEALING WITH THE PUNISHMENT**

As soon as Cherry entered Deuce's room, she knew she was in trouble as she felt a pair of arms grab her around the waist and spin her around with unbelievable force. Cherry gasped and whimpered quietly as she realized that Deuce had got her where he wanted her and there would be no escape until his rage had run its course.

"Ah, Cherry!" breathed Deuce in a deathly calm voice.

Cherry looked into Deuce's eyes and she saw pure hatred and fire there, and she was instantly terrified.

"H-Hi Deuce!" said Cherry, as confidently as she could.

"Where have you been?" asked Deuce in a sinister voice.

"I went for a meeting with Vince about a new storyline!" said Cherry, hoping that she sounded convincing.

"Really?" asked Deuce "for twelve hours?"

"Yeah," said Cherry "well Vince needed to talk to me about how my personality could develop and how the storyline would affect everyone else too. It took a long time! But Vince did say that we were going to be in a storyline together and that Shannon is going to be in the storyline too! It should be awesome!"

"What are you talking about you stupid girl! This is stupid! He can't be in the storyline with us, it'll be so bad for us! We'll have to tell Vince that we can't do it! By the way, why didn't you wake me up before you went then to tell me where you were going?" asked Deuce, whose voice was becoming more and more sinister with each passing sentence.

"I…" began Cherry nervously "I didn't want to disturb you!"

"Are you sure that's the reason?" asked Deuce.

"Y-Yes!" stammered Cherry nervously.

"Are you sure?" breathed Deuce dangerously "because I don't believe you were at a meeting with Vince!"

"I was, I swear!" said Cherry fearfully.

"Well I don't believe you!" said Deuce "and you know what happens when you lie to me!"

"B-But I'm not lying!" said Cherry, forgetting that she should argue with Deuce for a moment.

"Are you arguing with me now Cherry?" asked Deuce dangerously.

"N-No!" said Cherry "honestly I wasn't!"

"Well it sounds like you were!" said Deuce angrily.

"I'm s-sorry Deuce!" whispered Cherry in fear.

"It's too late now Cherry," said Deuce, grinning evilly "you know what happens when you lie to me, don't you?"

"Y-Yes!" stammered Cherry fearfully.

"And you know I'm only going to do this because I love you don't you?" said Deuce, in a manipulative voice "other couples do this you know, it's completely normal honestly!"

"I k-know D-Deuce!" said Cherry nervously, as Deuce's words started to sink in and she started to believe them.

With that, Deuce grinned and picked Cherry up before throwing her over to the other side of the room. Cherry landed with a bone crunching crash and she instantly knew that some of her ribs were broken, because she was finding it incredibly difficult to breathe.

Then to Cherry's horror, she saw Deuce towering over her, looking livid.

"This will teach you not to lie to me again Cherry!" he shouted "by the time I'm finished with you, you won't even have the strength left to walk!"

"N-No p-please d-don't h-hurt m-me!" sobbed Cherry breathlessly "I-I'm s-sorry!"

Deuce ignored Cherry's last comment and he simply kicked her in the stomach, making her cough violently. Then Deuce smashed Cherry's head against the wall, and gave her two black eyes. At the moment, Deuce didn't care where he hit Cherry, he just wanted to hurt her.

Cherry knew that Deuce had that mentality and because of this she knew he was going to hurt her worse than he ever had before, so she simply braced herself for the pain.

Deuce continued to punch and kick Cherry relentlessly for about fifteen more minutes, but to Cherry it felt like an eternity. Then he dragged Cherry across the hard wooden floor, causing Cherry to cry out in pain every so often as she felt the bruises on her body touch the unforgiving wood.

Deuce threw Cherry onto the bed and climbed on top of her. He kissed her roughly as Cherry closed her eyes, desperately trying to block out the pain. Deuce continued to violate Cherry in the worst way yet again, and Cherry just accepted it yet again, as the tears poured down her face. Cherry did not open her eyes until she felt Deuce put her clothes back on and she heard him say in a voice that was drenched in venom,

"Get up you worthless piece of garbage!"

Cherry did as she was told and sat up slowly, feeling pain shoot through her spine. She began to sob in pain, but this made Deuce angrier than he already was, and he shouted,

"Shut up!"

Cherry looked over at Deuce, who was now over the other side of the room, and gasped in fear when she saw that he was holding a white-hot iron in his hand.

Deuce sauntered over to Cherry, and said,

"I told you I was going to hurt you, so here we go!"

Then Deuce proceeded to holding Cherry still with one arm. He was so strong that Cherry had no chance of escape and she knew it, so she just let the fear overtake her and prepared for the pain that she knew was coming.

After he had made sure that Cherry wasn't going to move Deuce held the white-hot iron to her wrist. Cherry screamed out in pain during the entire thirty seconds that Deuce had the iron held to her skin. She had never felt such intense pain before, and Cherry didn't know how to deal with it, especially when Deuce did the same thing to her other wrist too.

When Deuce had finished, he let Cherry go and she collapsed onto the bed, curled into a ball. She felt sick with the pain and all she wanted to do was go to Shannon's room and get a hug from him, but at the moment she couldn't risk it, besides she wasn't sure if she had the strength to get there.

"Now Cherry that'll teach you not to lie to me won't it!" sneered Deuce sinisterly "now go and get changed and then we can sleep!"

It took all of Cherry's strength and will power to allow her to sit up, grab some clothes and stagger to the bathroom. As she got changed, Cherry saw and felt the full extent of her injuries. She was in severe pain and she was terrified.

After she had got changed, Cherry walked out of the bathroom to find Deuce already in bed. Cherry wasn't sure if he was asleep, so she couldn't risk going to Shannon's room, so she climbed gingerly into the bed, being very careful not to rub the burns on the fabric of the duvet.

There was no way that Cherry could get to sleep, so she lay awake, waiting to hear the familiar snores that would tell her Deuce was in a deep sleep and that it was safe for her to go to Shannon's room.

Sure enough after half an hour, Cherry heard the familiar snores, so she climbed slowly and gingerly out of bed, wincing in pain. Then she crept out of the room, closing the door behind her, finally allowing herself to let the tears that she had held back for so long, fall.

Cherry could barely breathe, thanks to her obviously broken ribs, but she found the strength from somewhere that enabled her to make the long, slow and painful walk to Shannon's room. The walk seemed to go on forever, but eventually Cherry found herself outside her safe haven, outside Shannon's hotel room where she could finally escape Deuce.

Cherry knocked the door as hard as she could and she instantly felt pain shoot through her arm and up to her shoulder, passing over the burns on her wrist and making the pain from them even more intense. She began to cry in pain just as Shannon answered the door. When Shannon saw Cherry in her current state he gasped, and in a tearful voice he said,

"Oh Cherry, what did he do to you honey?"

Cherry couldn't answer Shannon, and she was finding it difficult to stand at the moment, which Shannon instantly saw, so he swept her up into his arm, and carried her carefully and protectively over to the bed, being very careful not to injure her anymore than she already was.

Shannon lay Cherry down on the bed, and reached under the bed for his first aid kit, before sitting on the bed next to Cherry.

"W-What did he d-do to you Cherry?" repeated Shannon in a very shaky voice "please t-talk to me!"

Cherry was still in such an hysterical state that she still could not talk to Shannon, but Shannon noticed the burns on her wrists and he gasped in fear.

"C-Cherry," he said, as his voice trembled in fear "are those b-burns? Did Deuce d-do that to you?"

Cherry nodded in fear, as she looked up at Shannon and began to cry even harder. Seeing Cherry in this state made Shannon want to cry too, but he knew he had to be strong for Cherry, so he swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat and said in the same shaky voice as before,

"Oh m-my God, all r-right then Cherry, we'll g-get those sorted b-before we do anything else, is that all r-right? Because I b-bet they hurt don't they?"

Cherry nodded again, still unable to talk because of fear and the pain that she was going through.

"OK then," said Shannon gently "well I need to put some cream on them first, all right? I think it's a bit like antiseptic cream to stop them getting infected, then I'll put some gauze on them and bandage them. It will hurt, I'm not going to lie to you, those are nasty burns, but it's got to be done or they'll get infected and hurt even more!"

"W-Will y-you s-stay w-w-with m-me?" asked Cherry in a desperate voice, speaking for the first time since she had been in Shannon's room.

"Of c-course I will honey!" said Shannon, in a voice close to tears "I'm n-not going to l-leave you on your own t-to go through this, I'm n-never going to leave you alone I promise! I couldn't do that to you or myself, honestly! When I'm not with you I m-miss you t-too m-much!"

Cherry seemed slightly reassured, although she was still crying. Shannon gently spread the cream over the angry red burns on Cherry's wrists, feeling sick when he saw them, but also feeling extreme anger towards Deuce too. He did not understand how anyone could be so cruel to Cherry, least of all her boyfriend. For now, Shannon let those thoughts drift to the back of his mind, especially when he saw the look of pain that graced Cherry's face at that moment in time.

"Shh Cherry," he whispered, stroking her hair, trying to calm her down, as he felt tears cascade down his own cheeks too "the pain will stop in a minute, then I can put the bandages on! I promise!"

Cherry trusted Shannon with all her heart, which was unusual for her, as it took a lot for her to trust people as much as she did Shannon. Sure enough, the pain started to subside, but when Cherry glanced down at her wrists, the angry red marks scared and upset her even more. However, soon after that Shannon gently wrapped bandages around Cherry's wrists, concealing the burns from view and easing Cherry's pain a lot more.

"Did he do anything else to you Cherry?" asked Shannon, fearing Cherry's response.

"I t-think h-he b-broke s-s-some of m-my r-r-ribs!" sobbed Cherry "I c-can't b-breathe p-properly and I f-feel s-sick, and I th-think I've g-got a n-nasty b-b-bump on m-my h-head t-too!"

"Oh Cherry, you poor thing!" whispered Shannon "I really can't do much for broken ribs or a bump on the head except give you ice and tell you to take it easy! I'm sorry honey, I wish I could help you more!"

"Y-You've h-helped m-me s-so m-much a-already, I r-really a-appreciate it!" whimpered Cherry.

"It's the least I could do!" said Shannon quietly "I can't let you deal with this on your own!"

Suddenly Cherry felt a wave of nausea overtake her. She immediately felt the colour drain from her face as Shannon observed her worriedly,

"Are you all right Cherry?"  
"I…I th-think I'm g-going t-t-to b-be s-sick!" stammered Cherry, through tears.

"All right then honey, let's get you to the bathroom!" said Shannon, helping Cherry off the bed.

Cherry was still very unsteady and as she stood up and stepped away from the bed, a wave of dizziness overtook her and she lost her balance. Cherry clung to Shannon, who was by her side for support and with Shannon's help, she managed to stagger to the bathroom and kneel down in front of the toilet.

As soon as she knelt down Cherry threw up in the toilet. This scared and upset her more than anything else, because she felt useless and pathetic, and she didn't want Shannon to think that about her.

However, Shannon would never think that about Cherry. He loved her beyond belief and he always would. All he wanted to do was make her tears go away and hold her in his arms forever, but for now he knew that could never happen.

"It's all right Cherry," said Shannon, as he rubbed Cherry's back and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear "everything is going to be all right, I promise!"

After a few minutes Cherry stopped being sick and looked up at Shannon, and took the cloth that he was holding in order to clean herself up. Once she had done that, she said in a shaky voice,

"I'm s-sorry Shannon!"

"It's all r-right Cherry," said Shannon, in a shaky voice "it's n-not your fault! But I h-have to ask this, f-for my own peace of mind, do you think you could be…p-pregnant, because I know Deuce does…other things t-to you t-too?"

"I'm n-not pregnant," said Cherry "thank God. Deuce always m-makes sure he n-never leaves any evidence of w-what h-he does, so he uses p-protection!"

"That's good then," said Shannon "that's eased my mind a lot! I mean I'm sure you'd make a great mum, but Deuce as a father, terrifies me!"

"Me t-too!" said Cherry.

There was a minutes comfortable silence between the two friends, in which they were both lost in their own thoughts, thinking, of course, of one another.

"Do you want to stay with me tonight Cherry?" asked Shannon, breaking the silence "or do you want to go back to your own room?"

"Can I stay h-here?" asked Cherry, who had calmed down considerably, but was still in need of some reassurance.

"Of course you can!" said Shannon, smiling "I'd feel better if you stayed with me anyway, I wouldn't be able to sleep if you were in your room on your own, I'd be too worried about you!"

"Thank y-you!" said Cherry, managing a weak smile.

"It's all right," said Shannon, hugging her close to his chest "come on, let's go to bed, eh?"

"You can if you want," said Cherry "but I'm g-going to sit up f-for a bit and write about my f-feelings, like you suggested. Is that all right?"

"Sure thing!" said Shannon "there's a pen and paper on the desk. I'm going to sit up until you've finished though, OK? Because I'm not going to be able to sleep if I know you're awake!"

"Yeah all right then!" said Cherry.

"Come on then!" said Shannon, getting up off the bathroom floor.

Shannon offered his hand to Cherry to help her up, which she gratefully accepted. Shannon pulled Cherry to her feet, and noticed that she was still very unsteady, so he put his arm around her and guided her over to the desk, before helping her to sit down.

"I'll be over here if you need me Cherry, all right?" said Shannon.

Cherry nodded, and smiled weakly, before Shannon walked over to the bed and lay on it, sprawled out, reading a magazine.

Cherry took a piece of paper and a pen from the neat piles of things on the desk and began to think about what to write. She wasn't sure, so she looked deep into her heart and her innermost feelings, as the pen hovered over the paper.

Eventually, Cherry sighed. She still wasn't sure what to write but she decided to just start writing and see where he heart took her. So she let the pen touch the paper and started to write.

_**Gone**_

_One step forward and two steps back_

_Your harsh words seem to make my heart crack_

_You watch in the shadows as I start to break_

_I start to think maybe your love was fake_

_Wandering what to do, day and night_

_In the dark, I'm looking for the light_

_Wandering why you were never there_

_Wandering if you ever even cared_

_Wandering why you would never hold me tight_

_Where were you when I lost my sight?_

_You watched in the dark as I died inside_

_You did not comfort me when I cried_

_You did not heal me when I was hurt_

_You pushed me down into the dirt_

_You pushed me away when I needed you most_

_Because of you, I am now a ghost_

_When I was lost you did not find me_

_To my heart, you never had the key_

_You caused my nightmares, broken dreams_

_You ripped me straight at the seams_

_Bit by bit you broke my heart_

_You never loved me from the start_

_You always made sure the sun didn't shine_

_You always made sure nothing was mine_

_In my life, you were never ever kind_

_You always played with my mind_

_You left me alone whenever I bled_

_You made sure that inside I was dead_

_You are the cause of all my tears_

_You are one of my deepest fears_

_When you are around the Earth doesn't turn_

_You tell me I will never learn_

_You will never catch me when I fall_

_You will never let me stand tall_

_You always said it was meant to be_

_That was the truth, you always told me_

_You helped destroy all my belief_

_I am now as tender as a leaf_

_You watched me become more insecure_

_As you destroyed me more and more_

_You always wandered why I cried_

_Why I would always run and hide_

_You just ignored me if I screamed_

_You never asked me what I dreamed_

_You are the main reason I am afraid_

_Because of you, I'm starting to fade_

_When I needed you most you walked away_

_You were never there come what may_

_You would never ever let me sleep_

_You always told me not to weep_

_Because of you, I trust no one_

_All the love in my life is gone._

Once she had finished writing, Cherry re-read her work, instantly feeling tears fill her eyes and pour down her cheeks. The whole poem was so emotional and she had never written anything like it before, but she had to admit that she felt better for doing it. She felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, and that she was free to express her emotions.

"Can we go to sleep now Shannon?" asked Cherry, turning around to face him.

"Sure," said Shannon, walking over to Cherry, with a concerned look on his face "are you all right?"

"I think so," said Cherry, as Shannon walked her to the bed, sat her down and put his arms around her "it's just that writing everything down was emotional, you know?"

Shannon nodded, immediately understanding what Cherry meant because whenever he wrote his feelings down he got emotional too.

"Do you feel better for doing it though?" asked Shannon.

"A bit better yeah," said Cherry "would you like to read what I wrote?"

"Cherry, I would," said Shannon "but I'd feel like I was intruding on your private feelings, and I don't want to do that, it wouldn't feel right!"

"But I want you to read it," said Cherry "I want you to know exactly what's going on inside my head, because sometimes it's difficult to tell you, so I don't mind if you want to read it!"

"Are you sure?" asked Shannon dubiously.

"Yes!" said Cherry.

Shannon nodded, got up and retrieved the paper which Cherry had been writing on off the desk, before returning to his position next to Cherry on the bed. Shannon slowly read through what Cherry had written on the piece of paper and was instantly touched by it. He felt his heart break for her, and on more than one occasion, he had to swallow the lump in his throat and wipe away a stray tear.

"Cherry…that's…that's…wow!" said Shannon quietly, after he had finished reading "that's so deep and meaningful!"

"Thank you," said Cherry "it means a lot that you read it!"

"It's OK," said Shannon "wow Cherry, that's so emotional and heart-breaking in a way! It upset me in a couple of places!"

"Sorry Shannon!" said Cherry, in an ashamed voice, as she looked down.

"Cherry, you have nothing to be sorry for!" said Shannon, bringing her face up to look at him "you didn't ask to feel this way, it's not your fault, and besides, even though these are such negative feelings, this poem is beautifully written!"

"Really?" asked Cherry.

"Yeah," said Shannon, placing the poem back on the desk "now shall we go to sleep?"

"That's a good idea!" said Cherry.

With that, Cherry managed to take off her dressing gown and with Shannon's help, she climbed into the bed, and lay on the soft, comfortable mattress. Shannon climbed into the bed beside Cherry, and wrapped his arms protectively around her. Cherry, who finally felt safe, leant her head on Shannon's chest, before saying,

"Thank you for tonight Shannon," said Cherry, as she yawned hugely "this can't have been easy for you to deal with!"

"It's all right Cherry," said Shannon "I wasn't going to leave you on your own when you needed me most, I would never do that! In fact Cherry, there's something I have to tell you, I know you're with Deuce at the moment, but I still have to tell you, even though nothing can come of it…the thing is Cherry, I…I…Well…I kind of…I love you!"

Shannon received no reply from Cherry and was instantly nervous and scared that he had done the wrong thing and scared Cherry.

"Cherry I'm sorry," he said, almost in tears "don't hate me! I just…I can't help how I feel about you, you're just amazing. I'm sorry! Do you want me to leave?"

Again Shannon received no answer from Cherry and was instantly more worried than he had been before, so he looked down to where Cherry was lying, only to find her fast asleep in his arms, unaware of what he had just said. Shannon smiled when he saw this, but also sighed in disappointment, because Cherry had not heard him confess his love for her, but there was nothing he could do about it. Shannon would tell Cherry how he felt another day, perhaps when she had split up with Deuce and everything was less complicated.

With that thought in mind, Shannon then kissed the top of Cherry's head and said,

"Sleep tight sweetheart!"

After that, Shannon turned off the lights, pulled the duvet tighter around both him and Cherry and fell into a deep sleep, with thoughts of Cherry still swirling around in his head.

* * *

**What did you think? Let me know?**

**I'll update soon, so I'll see you then!**


	9. Nightmares

**Hi everyone, how are you??**

**I'm back after a very long absence! I'm so, so sorry but I've been so busy recently, I've recently started University so that's took priority, but I managed to write this chapter! Seriously I am sorry, and I hope this chapter will make up for it! ShannonxCherry are fast becoming one of my favourite WWE couples to write about, so after I've finished this story I'll write more, if you want me to! Hopefully the next chapter should be up soon!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**~ CHAPTER NINE ~**

**NIGHTMARES**

About a month had passed since Shannon had told Cherry that he was in love with her. Of course, Cherry didn't know anything about this as she had been asleep at the time and Shannon had not said anything to her about it, through fear of both rejection and scaring Cherry.

During the month that had passed since those events, things carried on much like they had before. Cherry was still with Deuce, much to Shannon's horror. Cherry still had not worked up the courage to break up with Deuce; she was just too scared of the reaction that she knew Deuce would have. However, being around Shannon so much had meant that Cherry was now becoming more confident, and besides, even though Cherry could not break up with Deuce yet, Shannon was not going to rush her.

Shannon and Cherry had become much closer during this month, so much so that they couldn't imagine their lives without each other, and it broke both of their hearts each time Shannon had to leave Cherry at the mercy of her boyfriend.

Meanwhile, the beatings that Cherry received on a daily basis still continued and in fact they had become more intense and frequent, so much so that Cherry's injuries from these beatings were becoming worse and worse when she walked to Shannon's room every night once she was sure that Deuce was asleep.

When it came to their work, the storyline involving Shannon, Cherry and Deuce was progressing incredibly fast. Shannon, Cherry and Deuce did not have to wrestle for one brand exclusively, they were able to wrestle on Raw, Smackdown and ECW, so they had used all this television time in the past month to develop the storyline, and at the next television taping it would be time for Shannon to intervene on Cherry's behalf, which he was looking forward to, because he could finally give Deuce a piece of his mind.

However, at the present moment in time, Shannon was incredibly concerned about Cherry. As usual, he had had to leave her with Deuce and this fact had upset Shannon, because, like always, Cherry had a look of intense fear on her face. Shannon knew that Cherry was going to get hurt just like always, and that fact upset him even more, especially when he thought about how much more serious the beatings were becoming.

Shannon had taken to having his entire first aid kit out ready for when Cherry came to his room, whether she needed the kit or not. Shannon also paced the room from midnight onwards because that was the time that Cherry usually came to see him.

However, it was now half past twelve at night and Cherry still had not turned up, so Shannon was trying but failing to not panic. All he wanted was to see Cherry and make sure she was all right and hold her in his arms.

Just as Shannon was strongly considering going to find Cherry just to reassure himself that she was all right, he heard a soft knock at the door. Shannon was by the door in an instant, hoping with all his heart that Cherry was on the other side of the door. Shannon took a deep breath and opened the door, and to his intense relief Cherry was stood in front of him.

Suddenly, Shannon's relief at seeing Cherry disappeared and was replaced by shock, terror and concern. Cherry's face was covered in dried blood, angry black bruises and floods of tears. However, that was not the worst thing. Cherry could barely breathe or stand up and her arms were covered in vicious cuts and scratches. Also Shannon was terrified to see Cherry's wrists wrapped in bloody handkerchiefs and he wandered what on earth Deuce had done to her and how he was going to calm her down, as Cherry's heart appeared to be breaking all over again, demolishing all the new-found confidence that Shannon had helped her develop.

"S-S-Shannon!" stammered Cherry, in a small voice that was drenched in fear, sadness and uncertainty.

"C-Cherry," stuttered Shannon, trying to hold back his tears "oh d-darling what d-did he d-do to y-you?"

Cherry simply shook her head and dissolved into tears again at an alarmingly fast rate. Cherry then collapsed into Shannon's already open arms and sobbed hysterically into his chest. Shannon meanwhile, had to swallow the lump that had developed in his throat and prepare himself to try and stay strong for Cherry's sake. Shannon swept Cherry slowly and carefully up into his arms, whispering reassurances to her when she flinched in pain. Shannon then gently placed Cherry on the bed and sat down next to her, stroking her hair while he glanced over her injuries becoming more and more horror struck as time went on.

Shannon had learnt over the past month that he didn't need to ask Cherry what Deuce had done to her, he could see the damage. Shannon had also learnt that it was better for Cherry if he instantly tended to her injuries rather than asking her before hand. He had asked Cherry about this and she had said that it was a good idea, so that had become part of their nightly routine and tonight would be no different.

Shannon gently cleaned each one of Cherry's cuts and bruises, desperately trying not to hurt her even more. However, that was of course almost impossible and occasionally Cherry would flinch away from Shannon, and sob with even more intensity than before. Shannon hated to see this happen and it broke his heart to see Cherry like this, and each time it happened Shannon did the only thing that made sense and stroked Cherry's hair and whispered reassuring words to her.

Once Shannon had healed Cherry's cuts and bruises, he moved down to her wrists, which were still wrapped in the handkerchiefs that were soaked in blood. The sight of this scared Shannon slightly and he very gingerly removed the handkerchiefs, hoping that the injuries weren't too serious, but at the same time expecting the worst. As Shannon took the handkerchiefs away, he was relieved to see that there was not much blood seeping from the cuts now, so they most likely would not need stitches. However, Shannon suspected that when Cherry first got them they had caused her to lose copious amounts of blood.

Shannon once again swallowed the lump in his throat for what felt like the millionth time, and slowly wiped away the excess blood surrounding Cherry's cuts with antiseptic wipes, while Cherry sobbed harder than ever. Then Shannon dressed the cuts, and breathed deeply to try and compose himself.

Once he had calmed down sufficiently, Shannon slowly climbed onto the bed and lay on his side next to Cherry's quivering form. Shannon gently put his arms around Cherry and pulled her closer to him. Cherry instantly flinched into Shannon's chest and started to weep in such a way that Shannon's heart shattered into a million tiny pieces and tears poured down his cheeks.

"Cherry…" began Shannon, who seemed to be at a loss for words, while tears continued to pour down his cheeks "Cherry…I'm h-here, y-you're s-safe n-now!"

"Shannon…" sobbed Cherry hysterically "I-It w-was-h-horrible, I w-was s-s-so s-scared h-he j-just d-didn't s-s-stop!"

"Shh Cherry, y-you're all r-right n-now, y-you're w-with m-me!" said Shannon, who was now sobbing along with Cherry.

"H-He b-beat m-me up s-so much, I thought h-he w-was g-going t-to k-kill m-me!" cried Cherry "th-then h-he m-made m-me h-have s-sex w-with h-him, then h-he c-cut m-my w-wrists, and m-made m-me h-have s-sex w-with h-him again!"

"Shh Cherry h-honey, y-you'll b-be f-fine, I p-promise!" said Shannon, who was horrified by what Cherry had just told him.

"Shannon, I…I…I…" started Cherry, before finding herself unable to finish.

"Cherry, honey, w-we'll talk l-later, just t-try and calm d-down now!" whispered Shannon, as he hugged Cherry closer to his chest "just let all the emotions out."

This sentence, as simple as it was, seemed to allow Cherry to relinquish any kind of hold she still had on her emotions, as she began to sob harder than ever.

Shannon was incredibly worried about Cherry and he just wanted to make her feel better, so he sat up and lifted Cherry into his lap before pulling back the quilt and manoeuvring them both into the bed and draping the quilt over them. Cherry cried for what felt like an eternity, and for the first time ever, Shannon cried along with her. It took a lot to make Shannon cry, but tonight was different, Cherry seemed inconsolable and this upset Shannon more than anything else, because there seemed to be no way that he could make her feel better.

After a long while, Cherry's tears subsided and her sobbing became quieter and less intense. At this, Shannon looked down at Cherry with tearful eyes and said,

"It's all right Cherry, you're safe now."

"I d-deserved w-what I g-g-got a-anyway!" cried Cherry.

"That's not true Cherry, you know it's not!" said Shannon, shocked that Cherry would even think that "no one deserves to have to go through what you have!"

"B-But, m-maybe if I h-h-had b-b-been g-good." sobbed Cherry.

"Cherry you didn't do anything wrong," said Shannon "what is it you think you've done to deserve this, what's he told you Cherry? Come on, tell me."

"I sh-shouldn't h-have h-had an o-o-opinion!" whispered Cherry, talking more to herself than to Shannon "I sh-should w-wear sh-short s-skirts l-like h-he t-tells m-me t-to, th-then m-maybe he-he'd s-stop. B-But h-he only d-d-does it b-because h-he l-loves m-me!"

"Cherry honey listen to me," said Shannon in a firm but still caring tone "you are entitled to an opinion, there's nothing wrong with that, and if you don't want to wear short skirts then you don't have to, Deuce can't tell you what you can and can't wear!"

"B-But h-he only d-does it b-because h-he l-loves m-me!" said Cherry in a voice that was still drenched in heartbreaking tears, but seemed to totally believe what she was saying at the time.

"No he doesn't Cherry," said Shannon, in the same voice as before "if he loved you he'd treat you like a princess, he'd treat you like you deserved, he wouldn't hurt you. He just has you brainwashed, so that you think what he does is right, but it's not right Cherry, I promise you!"

After this there was a short pause between the two friends, in which Cherry sobbed while trying to process the words that Shannon had said.

"Do you understand Cherry?" asked Shannon, gently, as he stroked her cheek "what he's doing to you isn't right. He doesn't love you. I'm sorry to have to break it to you, because I know you love him, but he doesn't feel the same!"

"W-Why n-not?" asked Cherry tearfully "w-what's w-wrong w-with m-me?"

"Nothing's wrong with you Cherry!" said Shannon "you're perfect, it's just that Deuce can't see that so he treats you badly. Or maybe he's scared of losing you so he treats you badly because he wants to stop you from leaving him."

"Th-thanks Shannon." said Cherry, who had now calmed down considerably.

"It's all right," said Shannon "I'm sorry I had to tell you that though, but it's the truth."

"I know." said Cherry, looking down "I'm sorry Shannon; I should have believed you from the start."

"It's all right," repeated Shannon "like I said, he has you brainwashed and it's going to take you a while to break free of the cycle, but the first thing that you have to do is to break up with him, and you have to do it soon, promise me you will Cherry."

"I promise." said Cherry "will you be there when I do?"

"Only if you want me to be there." replied Shannon.

Cherry nodded as Shannon stroked her hair and smiled.

"Hey guess what?" said Shannon "I get to intervene in the storyline tonight after my match with Deuce, so hopefully this could start the ball rolling to you breaking up with Deuce for real. What do you think? You don't have to do it tonight, but hopefully it could give you confidence to do it."

"I think that's a good idea," said Cherry "I'm still nervous about it though!"

"I know honey," said Shannon "but I'll be there and I'll look after you, I promise. You'll be fine, he won't hurt you and I promise you that!"

Cherry smiled weakly before yawning hugely, and leaning into Shannon's chest as he tightened his grip around her.

"You need to go to sleep Cherry!" whispered Shannon, as he laid them both down on the pillows "you're safe, I'm here, you can go to sleep now!"

"Thank you Shannon." said Cherry, who was genuinely grateful as she snuggled down deeper into Shannon's embrace.

"It's all right," said Shannon, as he pulled the duvet tighter around himself and Cherry, before wiping the last remnants of Cherry's tears away "just try and get some sleep now, yeah?"

Cherry nodded and smiled, as she lay in Shannon's arms feeling the tiredness overwhelm her suddenly. Within two minutes, Cherry was asleep and Shannon glanced down at her smiling, as he fell asleep himself.

A couple of hours later, Shannon woke up suddenly. He didn't know why he had woken up; after all he was no longer worried about Cherry because she was with him. However something had woken him up, but he couldn't figure out what it was, maybe he was just being silly.

However, suddenly Shannon noticed that Cherry, who was still in his arms at this point, was trembling violently. Shannon noticed that Cherry was still asleep so he knew she was having a nightmare, and he was pretty sure he knew what it was about. Suddenly Cherry started whimpering and crying, as her trembling became even more distressed than before. Shannon was now incredibly worried about Cherry, and he knew that the best thing to do was to wake her up as soon as possible.

With that in mind, Shannon released his hold on Cherry, and knelt by her side as she continued to struggle through her nightmare. Shannon gently stroked Cherry's hair, trying to calm her down, but this was to no avail.

"Cherry?" whispered Shannon quietly "Cherry, honey you need to wake up!"

Cherry continued to tremble and whimper as she tried to work her way through her nightmare.

"Cherry, come on honey, wake up for me, please?" said Shannon "you need to wake up, come on."

This still did nothing to change the state that Cherry was in at this time, and Shannon was now getting incredibly worried about her.

"Cherry," he said "please wake up honey, it's only a nightmare, I'm here and you'll be absolutely fine, I promise!"

Shannon, who was gently running his hands through Cherry's hair, in what he hoped was a reassuring way, hoped that this would be enough to wake Cherry up, but was convinced that is wouldn't be. So, when Cherry's eyes shot open and she looked terrified, Shannon was shocked, but very glad at the same time.

"No, no, no please don't hurt me again!" shouted Cherry, her voice muffled by the duvet that she was holding tightly around herself "please I'll be good I promise don't hurt me again!"

"Cherry…" said Shannon, in what he hoped was a reassuring voice "honey it's ok, it was just a nightmare."

"No, please Deuce, please don't hurt me!" sobbed Cherry "I'll be good, I promise!"

"Cherry, it's Shannon," began Shannon gently, in a slightly shaky voice "everything is going to be OK, Deuce isn't here, it's just me and you. It was just a nightmare, I promise!"

It took Cherry a while to process Shannon's words and to actually believe them, because everything had seemed so real to her. In fact, it took Cherry a long time to process exactly where she was and who was in front of her.

"Cherry?" asked Shannon slowly after a little while.

"Shannon," whispered Cherry, her eyes glistening with tears, and she slowly began to relinquish her hold on the quilt "I'm s-sorry!"

"Honey, you don't have to be sorry!" said Shannon, as he watched Cherry tremble "now do you want a hug?"

Cherry nodded slowly, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Shannon smiled warmly and slowly and cautiously climbed into the bed next to Cherry, so that he didn't startle her. As soon as Shannon embraced Cherry in his arms she broke down completely, as she held on to Shannon tightly.

"Shh Cherry, you're safe now, it was all a dream, it's over now." whispered Shannon tenderly "I'm here, you're going to be all right!"

Cherry continued to sob into Shannon's chest, as she trembled violently, while the memories of her horrific nightmare came back. Meanwhile Shannon lay with Cherry, holding her tightly in his arms in order to protect her from the world around her.

"Shh Cherry, it'll be all right, just try and calm down for me, all right?" whispered Shannon.

"P-Please d-d--don't l-let m-me g-g-go Shannon!" sobbed Cherry, shrinking deeper into Shannon's embrace.

"I'm not going anywhere, I promise Cherry." breathed Shannon.

"H-He w-w-won't s-stop Shannon, e-even in m-m-my d-dreams!" sobbed Cherry in a heartbreaking voice "h-he'll n-never s-stop!"

"He will Cherry, I promise you." said Shannon gently "and the first step to making him stop is you breaking up with him, which you really need to do soon honey!"

"I w-will," wept Cherry "it's j-just th-that I'm s-s-so s-scared!"

"What are you scared of Cherry?" murmured Shannon into her hair.

"I'm s-scared o-of h-his r-reaction," cried Cherry, shuddering slightly, which immediately made Shannon tighten his grip on her "a-and I…I'm s-scared o-of b-being a-alone!"

"Cherry don't be scared of being alone, darling!" whispered Shannon tenderly "wouldn't it be better to be alone and be safe than to be with him and be hurt all the time?"

Cherry nodded. As much as she hated and feared the thought of being alone, she knew Shannon was right, it would be better for her to be alone than with Deuce.

"And you don't have to be scared of being alone either honey," continued Shannon, in the same voice as before "because you'll never be alone, I'm always going to be here to look after you any time you need me to, all right?"

"W-What?" stuttered Cherry in a bewildered voice as tears still streamed down her face "oh Shannon, th-thank y-you, b-but y-you d-don't h-have t-t-to do that if y-you d-don't w-want t-to!"

"I know I don't Cherry," said Shannon "but I want to. You're an amazing person, no matter what anyone else says and I want to look after you!"

"Thank you!" said Cherry, in a voice that was now much calmer.

"That's all right," said Shannon, smiling as Cherry looked up at him "so what was your nightmare about honey? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, it's just…I just wandered."

"No, it's ok I'll tell you." said Cherry in a small voice "it was just about me and Deuce and he just kept hitting me and punching me over and over again, and you were trying to get in the room to save me but you couldn't, so Deuce just kept hitting me and hitting me and he wouldn't stop! Then when he finally did stop hitting me he was going to do…everything else….that he does, but you woke me up before that happened."

"Oh Cherry, well it was all just a nightmare, all right?" whispered Shannon gently "it's all over now, I'm here and you're safe!"

"What if the dream comes back though?" asked Cherry, who seemed genuinely scared.

"Well hopefully you'll be able to dream that I get into the room and save you now won't you?" said Shannon reassuringly "but I'm sure it won't come back."

"I hope you're right!" said Cherry nervously, before yawning hugely.

"I will be," said Shannon quietly "now you need sleep honey, try and go to sleep again, OK?"

"I will, but it might be hard," said Cherry truthfully "and thank you Shannon."

"Night Cherry!" chuckled Shannon, smiling.

"Night." said Cherry, as she snuggled deeper into Shannon's embrace.

About half an hour later Shannon was still awake, and he could sense that Cherry was too. She hadn't relaxed like she usually did and she still had a vice like grip on his torso. Shannon looked down at Cherry, and sure enough he saw that he eyes were still open.

"Cherry?" he whispered "you all right honey?"

"I can't get to sleep Shannon, I've tried but I just can't, I can't settle down!" said Cherry who seemed quite flustered.

"All right Cherry," whispered Shannon soothingly, as he ran his hands through her hair "let me try something, OK? Maybe this will work."

Cherry nodded and waited for Shannon to try whatever it was he was going to do. Shannon quietly cleared his throat, and suddenly started singing the chorus to Nickelback's song "I'd Come For You".

"By now you know that, I'd come for you, no one but you, yes I'd come for you, but only if you told me to." sang Shannon quietly, in a soft, beautiful voice "and I'd fight for you, I'd lie it's true, give my life for you, you know I'd always come for you."

Shannon repeated these simple but beautiful words twice more before stopping and murmuring,

"Are you feeling a bit more relaxed now Cherry?"

Shannon received no answer so he looked down at Cherry and smiled when he saw that she was fast asleep, still in his embrace, with what seemed to be a small, but contented smile on her face. Shannon smiled and began to tuck the quilt tighter around both himself and Cherry, being very careful not to disturb her. Once he had done this, Shannon settled down before kissing the top of Cherry's head lightly and falling asleep almost instantly.

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**So, what did you think?? Let me know, I really appreciate the reviews! :)**

**See you soon! :D**


	10. Heart To Hearts

**Hey guys! Oh wow I'm so sorry for leaving it so long since updating! It's just I've been so busy with University and all that I just haven't had time to sit down and write anythiing unless it's been an essay for Uni! I hope you don't mind! Once again I'm really sorry! **

**Anyway, I think this chapter is really sweet, it shows just how much Shannon and Cherry care about each other. I hope you enjoy it!**

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**~ CHAPTER TEN ~**

**HEART TO HEARTS**

A few hours later Shannon woke up and glanced at the clock on his bedside table, seeing that it was nine o'clock in the morning, before realising that Cherry was late getting back to Deuce's room. At the thought of Cherry, Shannon glanced towards the girl lying in his arms and was immediately transfixed by her beauty, just like he had been ever since he had first met her. Shannon noticed that Cherry was still fast asleep in his arms unaware of the time. Shannon knew he should wake Cherry up so that he could get her back to Deuce and hopefully minimise the trouble she would be in. However, if Shannon was honest, he didn't want Cherry to go back to Deuce and besides, Cherry looked so happy and peaceful at the moment that Shannon really did not have the heart to wake her up.

With that in mind, Shannon slowly pulled the covers tighter around himself and Cherry and lay down to try and fall back to sleep. However, just as Shannon was settling down and starting to feel sleep overtake him again, there was a loud knock on the door of his room. At the sound of this noise, Cherry jerked awake and gasped loudly. Cherry was about to say something but Shannon motioned for her to be quiet, which she did.

"Moore, are you in there?" roared Deuce's voice "open up, I know you're in there!"

"Just keep quiet Cherry," murmured Shannon, holding a trembling Cherry in his arms "he'll go away."

Deuce continued shouting outside Shannon's door for the next five minutes, before Shannon heard him storm away down the corridor.

"Are you all right Cherry?" asked Shannon gently.

"I think so." said Cherry, in a voice that didn't sound confident at all "what time is it Shannon?"

"About twenty past nine." said Shannon, who prepared himself for Cherry's inevitable reaction.

"What?" said Cherry in an alarmed voice "oh my, I'm going to be in so much trouble with Deuce! That's probably why he came here looking for me, I bet he's been looking everywhere for me! He's going to kill me! I can't believe we overslept Shannon! Oh what am I going to do?"

Cherry was quivering again and Shannon took her small hands in his larger ones and looked her directly in the eyes before saying, in a voice that he hoped would reassure her,

"Cherry calm down honey, you'll be fine! I know we shouldn't have overslept but it couldn't be helped, we both obviously needed the sleep. Listen, I'll take you to your room now, and you can get dressed and then go to Deuce's room, but we'll go the way where we go past Vince's office, so if we see Deuce we can tell him Vince wanted to see us about what I'm going to say tonight. How does that sound?"

"That sounds good," said Cherry, smiling as she hugged Shannon "thank you so much Shannon!"

"Hey, it's ok!" said Shannon, embracing Cherry tightly in his protective and strong arms "do you want to go and get dressed then?"

"OK," said Cherry, although she sounded slightly nervous "will you stay in my room while I get dressed in the bathroom? It's all right if you don't want to it's just I would feel safer if you did."

"Cherry, you know I will!" said Shannon, as he gently cuddled Cherry in his arms "shall we go then?"

"Don't you think you should get dressed first Shannon?" asked Cherry, giggling slightly.

"Oh yeah!" said Shannon grinning "I forgot about that, see Cherry this is why I need you! If it wasn't for you I'd forget everything!"

Cherry laughed as Shannon grabbed some clothes and walked into the bathroom. He walked out fifteen minutes later with a bright smile on his face. Shannon walked over to Cherry, who was still sat on the bed in amongst the covers, and surprised her, by taking her in his arms and hugged her tightly. Cherry was confused, but hugged Shannon back all the same, before saying,

"What's all this in aid of Shannon?"

"Nothing really," Shannon murmured into Cherry's hair "I just wanted to give you a hug."

"Fair enough," said Cherry, settling into Shannon's embrace "I like hugs."

"I know Cherry," said Shannon chuckling "so do I."

Cherry and Shannon sat together in each other's embrace for a couple of minutes before Shannon sighed, and said,

"I wish things were different Cherry."

"What do you mean Shannon?" asked Cherry quietly.

"I wish you weren't with Deuce," said Shannon, in a slightly wistful voice "he doesn't deserve you, and you don't deserve to have to go through what he puts you through."

"I wish things were different too," said Cherry "but right now they can't be."

"I know, and that hurts me more than you'll ever know," whispered Shannon "I don't want to take you back to Deuce, I can't bear the thought that you're going to get hurt again, how anyone could ever hurt you I'll never know."  
"Why does he do it Shannon?" asked Cherry, in a voice that sounded defeated.

"I don't know Cherry, honey," said Shannon "but you definitely don't deserve it."

"I wish I had someone to love who treated me right," sighed Cherry "someone who loved me back."

"You'll find someone one day Cherry, I know you will," said Shannon, meaning every word "any guy would be so lucky to have you as their girlfriend."

"Thank you Shannon!" said Cherry, smiling a huge, genuine smile.

"Hey it's only the truth!" said Shannon chuckling.

"Why can't I find someone like you to be my boyfriend Shannon?" asked Cherry quietly "you're so amazing, you're perfect, but instead I'm with Deuce and I can't escape him!"

Shannon was shocked at what Cherry had just said. He couldn't believe she saw someone like him as being perfect for her. He had been waiting for her to say that for a long time, and he felt so happy now. Shannon knew that right now, he and Cherry could not be together, but he hoped that one day they would be able to be more than just friends.

"You will escape him I promise you Cherry." said Shannon, squeezing her shoulders.

"You think so?" asked Cherry, desperately seeking reassurance.

"I know so." said Shannon gently.

Cherry and Shannon both smiled before there was a moment of silence shared between them, that was only interrupted when Cherry realised she still wasn't dressed, and started to panic,

"Shannon, oh my, Deuce is going to kill me, I'm going to be in so much trouble, I need to go and get dressed now, but what if he sees me come out of your room? Oh what am I going to do?"

"Cherry, calm down honey, take a deep breath," said Shannon calmly "listen, remember we were going to tell Deuce we were at a meeting with Vince weren't we? I mean he'll probably still be angry but hopefully he'll accept that excuse. Also he's not going to see you because I'll check the corridor and then if it's clear we'll go out together, OK? Trust me Cherry it'll be all right!"

Cherry looked into Shannon's eyes and saw nothing but friendship, care and honestly and she instantly knew that he would look after her. Cherry knew she was going to get hurt by Deuce but she knew that Shannon would be there for her when she needed him.

"I trust you Shannon," said Cherry "I always will."

"Come on then." said Shannon, as he helped Cherry off the bed.

Shannon wrapped his arm around Cherry's shoulder as he led her to the door. He opened the door very slowly, keeping Cherry slightly behind him as he did so. Shannon looked both ways up and down the corridor a couple of times before determining that it was clear and safe.

"OK Cherry," he said quietly "the coast is clear."

Cherry managed to smile slightly, although she was still nervous, as Shannon quickly led her outside into the corridor. Shannon walked Cherry quickly towards her room, his senses alert, even though it was only about twenty metres. Cherry was on edge and she only relaxed when Shannon opened her door, led her inside her room and closed the door.

"Are you all right Cherry?" he asked gently.

"Yeah I think so," said Cherry "I'm just so nervous all the time!"

"I know honey," said Shannon, hugging her to him gently "you've been through some terrible things though, so it's understandable."

"I'm sorry Shannon," said Cherry, in an ashamed voice "I'm sorry for everything I've put you through."

"Cherry don't be silly!" said Shannon "none of this is your fault."

"It is," said Cherry, who now had tears in her eyes, and whose voice was now shaking "I sh-should be able t-t-to d-do this b-by m-myself!"

"No Cherry," said Shannon gently, as he hugged her slightly tighter "no one could cope with this on their own, I wouldn't expect you to cope with it on your own and I wouldn't let you. I care about you too much to let you go through this on your own."

"But why Shannon?" asked Cherry, whose cheeks were glistening with the remnants of tears "you could be friends with anyone you want, why did you choose me? Why do you care about me so much? I'm not special."

"You are Cherry, and don't let anyone ever tell you any different," said Shannon honestly "and I care about you so much because you are amazing, and you are a true friend and a lovely person who really does not deserve to be hurt by the people that are supposed to care most about her."

"If I don't deserve to be treated like I am, why does Deuce think he's doing the right thing?" asked Cherry, in a confused voice, as she detached herself from Shannon's embrace and lay down on her bed.

"Because he's an idiot Cherry," said Shannon, who lay down next to Cherry, and held her hand in his "he's an idiot who doesn't know the right way to treat women!"

There was a short pause between the two friends and Cherry tried to take in the words that Shannon had just said. She knew he was right, it was just difficult for her to accept them because she had been conditioned to believe what Deuce had told her for so long.

"It was so great at the start of the relationship though," said Cherry, turning onto her side to face Shannon, as tears filled her eyes "he was the perfect boyfriend. He treated me like a princess, told me I was special, did everything the perfect boyfriend was supposed to do. Then it went wrong!"

"Why did it go wrong Cherry, when was the first time he hit you?" asked Shannon slowly "you don't have to tell me if it hurts too much, I just want to know how long this has been going on for."

"The first time he hit me was when we'd been going out for about a month." said Cherry quietly "he was angry after he lost a match when we were on the independent circuit. He said I should have helped him, but it was in the script that I specifically could not help him. I tried to tell him that but he wouldn't listen. He said that I would listen to him and only him from then on and if I didn't I would be sorry. I tried to reason with him again, telling him I was sorry he lost the match but that I wasn't allowed to interfere or I could have been fired. Then he asked me what was more important him or my job, I said him, but he said I was lying and he told me not to lie to him, I told him I wasn't lying but he said that if it was true I would have helped him tonight. I tried to reason with him again but he went crazy and pinned me against a wall by my throat and punched me in the abdomen three times, before he realised what he was doing. He stopped and pleaded with me, told me he was sorry and that he would never do it again and that he loved me, and I believed him. But it didn't stop as you know."

Cherry had tears running down her cheeks now and Shannon instantly felt guilty for asking her about the first time Deuce had hit her. Shannon gently moved a piece of hair away from Cherry's eyes and wiped her tears away.

"I'm sorry Cherry, I'm so sorry for making you re-live this." he said sadly.

"It's ok Shannon," whispered Cherry "it's probably better if you know, that way we have no secrets."

"If you're sure," said Shannon, slightly sceptically "I still feel guilty though."

"Don't be," said Cherry "I think I need to tell someone everything now, it's been building up inside me for so long, I can't deal with it on my own anymore, and you just seem like a logical person to tell everything to."

"Well all right then," said Shannon quietly, and he stroked Cherry's hand gently with his thumb "but any time you want to stop just say."

"I will," said Cherry "now you can ask me anything you want."

"How long have you been going out with him?" asked Shannon gently.

"About a year." whispered Cherry nervously, knowing what Shannon's reaction would be.

"What?" said Shannon, in a horrified voice "you mean you've been putting up with this for eleven months?"

Cherry nodded, looking down, so that Shannon wouldn't see her tears,

"I always believed what he was doing was right," said Cherry, in an ashamed voice "he was overprotective at first, like he would never let another guy talk to me. Well that was at first. Then he started to get more and more angry as time went on. I should have seen the warning signs but I was only young, I thought that was just normal. He's the first boyfriend I've ever had, so I guess I just believed what he said. I just wanted to feel loved."

"Cherry, honey," said Shannon, who could see, just from the look in Cherry's eyes, how much this was upsetting her "you don't have to carry on if you don't want to."

"No I have to," said Cherry, in a determined, but sad voice "I have to tell you this. I've kept it locked inside me for so long, I feel like I might break completely if I don't tell you!"

"All right darling," said Shannon "but if you can't handle it, just stop, promise me."

"I promise," said Cherry, looking in Shannon's eyes "can you handle this though? Promise me you won't leave me after I've told you everything?"

Shannon looked deep into Cherry's eyes and saw that she needed some reassurance, so he moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her into his chest, before saying,

"Listen Cherry, I can handle this, I wouldn't be asking if I couldn't. And I'm going to be here for you forever, I'm never going to leave you."

"Thank you Shannon." said Cherry, smiling, as she lay, comfortably in Shannon's embrace.

"It's all right, so do you want to carry on then?" asked Shannon in a gentle voice.

"Well like I said, Deuce started to get angrier and angrier at time went on, then he hit me for the first time like I said," said Cherry, in a slightly fearful voice "he apologised of course, told me it would never happen again, but it did, and slowly it started to get more frequent and the injuries got worse. But I never told anyone because he told me it was normal to do that, and that he was protecting me from the world. I think I knew in the back of my mind that he was lying to me, and I should have seen sense, I just loved him so much at that time, I still do. I don't know why, I know I shouldn't but I can't help it."

"I know Cherry, you can't help who you fall for," said Shannon "but you know now that how he treats you is completely wrong, don't you?"

"Yeah I know Shannon," said Cherry "I think I'm starting to fall out of love with him too. I'm almost ready to break up with him."

"That's great Cherry," said Shannon, smiling "you're doing the right thing, you know that don't you, ? He doesn't deserve you."

"I know." said Cherry "you will be there for me after I've broken up with him won't you Shannon?"

"Of course I will honey," said Shannon "I'll even be there when you do it if you want."

"No, I have to do it myself," said Cherry, in a scared voice "he's going to hurt me afterwards, but please just promise me you'll be there when I need you!"

"You know I will Cherry." said Shannon, quietly.

"Thank you." said Cherry gratefully "now I guess we should get back to the story. Well about two months into the relationship, Deuce started being more…physical with what he wanted from me…he wanted me to sleep with him. He was my first boyfriend, so I wanted to wait until I was completely comfortable. I told him that, but he didn't accept it. I kept saying no to his…advances, and I would always pay for that when he hit me after I'd refused. Anyway, one night he came back to the hotel room in a foul mood. I wasn't sure why, but I just tried to stay out of his way. He kept making…advances towards me all night and I kept refusing, I just wasn't ready! Anyway, he'd been drinking since he got back to the hotel and at about midnight, just as we were getting into bed, he tried to get me to sleep with him again, I refused again, and then he told me I would do what he said, and I would sleep with him whether I liked it or not. He held me down and started to kiss me, I tried to fight him off but he was too strong. I cried and cried and tried to scream, but he put his hand over my mouth. Before I knew what was happening, it was all over, he had taken my innocence, forced me to sleep with him. I was hurting everywhere, bruised and emotionally destroyed. Then he hit me and told me he expected me to sleep with him every night from now on. I cried and cried as I went to get dressed. Then I just got into bed, where he was already asleep, and cried myself to sleep, and then had nightmares. That has been going on every night since then. Over time I sort of learnt it was easier to accept it and to not fight as he made it more painful if I fought, so I just let him do it."

At this point, Cherry now had tears streaming down her face, this had been extremely painful for her to relive and Shannon knew it, as he stared at her in shock. He could not believe that she had been going through that horror for the past ten months and she hadn't told anyone about it until about six weeks ago when he had found out.

"Cherry, honey," whispered Shannon, in a shocked voice "it's all right sweetie, I'm here, you can cry."

These simple words allowed Cherry to let go of any kind of hold she had over here emotions as Shannon pulled her to his chest, in a desperate attempt to try and make her feel better.

"Shannon, it, it's n-not f-fair." sobbed Cherry, in a broken voice.

"I know Cherry," said Shannon sympathetically "you deserve so much better than him."  
"A-All I w-wanted w-was t-t-to b-be l-loved, s-so I d-did e-everything and h-he s-still d-doesn't l-love m-me!" cried Cherry, almost hysterically "w-what d-did I d-do w-wrong Shannon?"

"Cherry you didn't do anything wrong, I promise." whispered Shannon.

"B-But w-why d-does h-he t-treat m-me l-like that then?"stammered Cherry.

"Because he's an idiot who doesn't know how to treat a lady," said Shannon, who knew he just had to keep repeating these comments until Cherry believed them, and the truth was that he was happy to do that if it helped Cherry "he's the one with the problem Cherry, not you."

"I k-know," sobbed Cherry "It h-hurts s-s-so m-much Shannon!"

"I know honey," said Shannon gently "I can't imagine the pain you're going through, it must be so hard. But listen honey, one thing I do know is that I'm going to help you through this pain I promise. You need someone to help heal your pain, and I will do that, if you will let me."

"I d-don't w-want t-to b-bring y-you d-d-down t-to m-my l-level th-though Shannon." cried Cherry.

"What do you mean Cherry?" asked Shannon, who was genuinely confused.

"I d-don't w-want t-to b-bring y-you d-d-down," said Cherry, through tears "I d-don't w-want t-to m-make y-you as w-w-worthless as m-me!"

Shannon looked at Cherry in shock. She looked absolutely heartbroken when she said that and she looked like she honestly believed every word she was saying. Shannon understood why Cherry believed this, it had all been what Deuce had told her, and it would take a long time for that way of thinking to be replaced by Cherry thinking for herself. Even though Shannon understood why Cherry felt that she was worthless and he knew it wasn't her fault Shannon was taken aback by the idea that Cherry thought Shannon would become worthless by association with her. Shannon of course did not believe this, he believed that every single moment he spent with Cherry, no matter how she was feeling, whether she was happy or sad, was a priceless moment, and each of these moments made Shannon the luckiest person in the world.

"Oh Cherry sweetie," said Shannon, in a kind voice "you aren't worthless and don't you ever let anyone tell you that you are. You are the most important, the sweetest, the kindest, the most wonderful and the most amazing girl in the world and you deserve the world. And as for me, let me in, let me help you, I want to help. I see every moment I spend with you as priceless and it makes me feel like the luckiest person in the world when I'm with you. So what if other people think you're not worth it? I think you're worth it and I always will, so please let me in, share the pain with me, I won't think any less of you if you do, you can't deal with this all on your own."

"B-But I've d-done it o-on m-my o-own f-for s-s-so l-long!" sobbed Cherry "I d-don't k-know h-how t-to l-let y-you in!"

"Technically darling, you already have," whispered Shannon "by telling me all the stuff you did, and by coming to me when you needed help, you let me get to know you. When you were happy and we were together I got to see the real you, but I watch you every time I leave you outside his door and I watch the sparkle disappear from your eyes and it breaks my heart. I want you to let me in so I can make that sparkle stay in your eye. But to let me in you've got to tell me everything that's in your mind, but you can't because he still has a hold of you, it's a mental hold and you can't escape it, and I want you to let me in so I can help you try to escape it, because you deserve so much better."

"I w-want to let you in," said Cherry, who had now calmed down considerably "it's j-just hard, I'm s-scared that if I tell you everything then I'll l-lose you."

"Honey, you'll never ever lose me no matter what." said Shannon.

"You mean it?" asked Cherry, as she searched Shannon's eyes with her own, desperately looking for reassurance.

"I promise you Cherry," said Shannon truthfully "I'm not going anywhere, you can tell me anything you want, you will never ever lose me. So are you going to tell me? I mean it is up to you though."

"I don't even know where to start." said Cherry honestly "I mean do we even have time? What about getting back to Deuce?"

"Don't you worry about that," said Shannon "this is more important all right? And Deuce isn't going to find out, OK?"

Cherry nodded, before going quiet for a little while and trying to think about what to say to Shannon. She sighed and realised just how nervous she actually was. Her hands began to tremble, she had never let anyone except Deuce this deep into her heart and mind, and of course, she knew how it had turned out with Deuce, but something told her Shannon would be different. As if to confirm this thought, Shannon took Cherry's trembling hands in his, and ran his thumb along them, before saying,

"Take your time sweetie."

"I don't know how to explain it really, but I'm going to try," said Cherry "I just have so many emotions running through my mind. I know what Deuce is doing is wrong but for some reason I still feel a little bit of love for him, but that love is getting smaller and smaller each day. I feel sick whenever he touches me, but I just want a hug and for him to tell me he loves me. I feel guilty because I obviously did something wrong, or else why would he do what he does? I just want him to stop it because I can't handle it anymore. It feels like I'm tearing apart inside, because I want to stay with Deuce because I love him, but I know what he's doing is wrong so I know I shouldn't stay with him. I feel like I'm invisible and that no one sees me because there must be other people that know what he does but no one else has ever done anything, so maybe I do deserve it. Most of all I just want someone to make it stop. I just want someone who is going to be there no matter what. I just want someone to take me away from it all and show me what love is, but then I think I'm being selfish and I should just accept what I have, because it's the best I'm going to get really."

Shannon lay next to Cherry in silence, trying to think how to respond to that. Cherry had obviously just poured her heart out to him, and now he couldn't think what to say.

"Cherry, I really don't know how to respond to that, so if I say the wrong thing I'm sorry," said Shannon slowly "you really fell deep for Deuce didn't you? I mean to still love him after everything he's done, that just shows how selfless you actually are. Deuce does not deserve your love and you still love him. I think although you say you want a hug from Deuce and for him to say he loves you, you know that's never going to happen, but it's your dream so you hold onto it. You didn't do anything wrong, he just does what he does because he's an idiot and he doesn't know how to treat a lady. I think you want to love Deuce but because of what he's done to you, you think you love him but actually you hate him. You definitely don't deserve it and you have to remember that Deuce plays mind games with you, so that could be why no one else has ever noticed, because Deuce has forced you to put up this veneer that no one can see through, except me. You're not being selfish by wanting someone to take you away from this, anyone would want someone to take them away from the pain that you have to suffer, and one day you are going to find someone who treats you better than Deuce I know you are. You'll find someone who will make it all stop and to be there no matter what and to take you away front it all and to show you what love is, and the fact is that whoever that person is he'll be a lucky person."

"But really I feel like I have already found someone who can stop it all and who will be there for me no matter what," said Cherry, in an almost wistful voice "I think I've found someone who can take me away and make me realise that life if worth living. I really don't know what I would do without you Shannon."

"Well you're never going to have to find out Cherry," said Shannon, smiling "because I'm always going to be here for you."

"Thank you." said Cherry, smiling, as she gently hugged Shannon and Shannon hugged her back.

"Are you all right now sweetie?" asked Shannon.

"I think so," said Cherry "just nervous about what Deuce is going to say and do."

"Well would you rather stay here until we have to go to the taping tonight?" asked Shannon, who would be far happier if Cherry decided to do that.

"I should get back to Deuce," said Cherry "but I would much rather stay .with you."

"Then stay with me." said Shannon.

"But that will just make Deuce angrier with me, and I'll get punished even worse than usual." said Cherry, who sounded quite worried.

"OK then honey, I guess you're right, I don't want to risk you getting hurt," said Shannon "do you want me to take you back?"

"No," said Cherry "I don't want to go back I have to, so will you walk me back?"

"Of course I will honey!" said Shannon "now why don't you go and get dressed?"

"OK," said Cherry "will you be all right if I leave you for a bit?"

"I'm sure I'll survive," said Shannon, putting on a sad face, while still grinning "somehow."

Cherry smiled widely before getting up, grabbing some clothes and walking into the bathroom to get changed. She emerged twenty minutes later, looking, in Shannon's opinion absolutely gorgeous. Her hair had been brushed and tied up in two adorable pigtails and she had a light dusting of pink lip gloss on her lips. She was wearing black jeans and a red t-shirt with a black musical note on it and a black hooded top. She was wearing a black belt with red studs on it and she had put on her black converse shoes. In Shannon's opinion Cherry was the most gorgeous girl ever.

"You look beautiful Cherry." said Shannon, meaning every word.

"Thank you!" said Cherry, smiling as she blushed, which made Shannon fall even deeper in love with her.

"Hey it's only the truth," said Shannon "now shall we go?"

"Do we have to?" asked Cherry, who now looked incredibly depressed.

"We don't have to if you don't want to Cherry," said Shannon "it's up to you."

"I guess we should," said Cherry, sighing unhappily "it'll make him less angry later on."

"You really don't have to if you don't want to Cherry," said Shannon "it your choice honey, I'll protect you either way."

"I'll go, I can't run away from him can I? I've got to face him." said Cherry, in what she hoped was a confident voice, although Shannon heard her voice crack.

"Are you sure?" asked Shannon worriedly.

"Yes." said Cherry although her voice broke again.

"You're so brave Cherry," said Shannon "and I'll be there for you when you need me I promise."

"Thank you Shannon, I'm going to need you." said Cherry, nervously "shall we go then?"

"If you're ready to go," said Shannon "are you ready?"

"I'll never be ready, but the sooner I go the sooner it'll be over." said Cherry.

"All right then." said Shannon, standing up a hugging Cherry tightly "I'm going to miss you while you're gone."

"I'll miss you too," said Cherry "but I'll see you later, and you can give him a piece of your mind."

This made Shannon smile as he regretfully let Cherry go. He really did not want to take her back to Deuce and he knew she didn't want to go back either, but he understood her reasoning. So Shannon took hold of Cherry's hand and together they walked out of the room and through the corridors towards Deuce's room. As they got closer to Deuce's room Shannon felt Cherry become more and more tense beside him, and he knew she was nervous, so he gently squeezed her hand trying to reassure her and himself. Soon Shannon and Cherry were outside the door to Deuce's room. Shannon turned to face Cherry and saw the fear in her eyes.

"It'll be all right Cherry," he murmured in what he hoped was a reassuring voice "just keep thinking about tonight, and how I get to give him a piece of my mind, OK?"

"Promise you'll be there?" whispered Cherry.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world honey," muttered Shannon smiling "and just think, this is the start to you breaking up with him, so that's good isn't it."

"Yeah," whispered Cherry, nervously "well I'd better go, so I'll see you later?"

"Of course you will." murmured Shannon.

Before Shannon left he embraced Cherry tightly in his arms and Cherry returned the embrace, both of them using this as an attempt to reassure themselves that everything would be fine. A couple of minutes later, they both regretfully let go of each other and Shannon walked away. However, before he turned the corner, Shannon looked back and saw Cherry going into Deuce's room, knowing that the results of this could only be bad.

* * *

**So what did you think?? Let me know!**

**Anyway once again I'm so sorry about making you wait so long! Hopefully I'll be able to get the next chapter written quicker!**

**Thanks for reading and I'll see you soon!**


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